Table 3.
Organization | ||||
A | B | C | D | |
Number of units in study | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Shifts/nurses observed | 5 | 7 | 5 | 3 |
Oral communication between RNs (excluding shift report) (%) | 2 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
Oral communication between RNs (shift report) (%) | 8 | 7 | 5 | 8 |
Oral communication with MD (%) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 |
Oral communication with other unit staff (not RN or MD) (%) | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 |
Oral communication with other (non-unit) (%) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 |
Total % of RN shift time spent orally communicating | 14 | 14 | 15 | 36 |
Documentation (data entry) (%) | 7 | 13 | 11 | 32 |
Information retrieval (%) | 10 | 6 | 11 | 12 |
Total % of RN shift time spent documenting and retrieving | 17 | 19 | 22 | 44 |
Total % of RN shift time spent managing, documenting, and orally communicating about patient care information | 31 | 33 | 37 | 80 |
A, university hospital; B and C, large community hospitals; D, small community hospital.
MD, medical doctor; RN, registered nurse.