Table 4.
Number, frequency and proportion of tasks, proportion of category-specific task time and multitasking for each profession (operating room nurses [ORNs], registered nurse anaesthetists [RNAs] and surgeons) per profession-specific total observation time*
| Task category | Number of tasks | Frequency of tasks (n/hour) | Proportion of tasks (%) (95% CI)† | Proportion of category-specific task time (%) (95% CI)† | Proportion of multitasking during category- specific task time (%) (95% CI) † |
| Communication | |||||
| ORNs | 1948 | 29.5 | 50.6 (49.1 to 52.2) | 18.0 (17.0 to 19.1) | 68.7 (65.8 to 71.7) |
| RNAs | 1112 | 16.8 | 23.4 (22.2 to 24.6) | 8.3 (7.7 to 9.0) | 84.0 (80.8 to 86.8) |
| Surgeons | 1908 | 51.6 | 84.0 (82.4 to 85.5) | 37.8 (36.2 to 39.5) | 89.0 (87.2 to 90.6) |
| Total | 4968 | ||||
| Intra-indirect care | |||||
| ORNs | 743 | 11.3 | 19.3 (18.1 to 20.6) | 17.5 (16.5 to 18.6) | 40.4 (37.6 to 43.9) |
| RNAs | 1079 | 16.3 | 22.7 (21.5 to 23.9) | 41.0 (39.9 to 42.2) | 76.4 (74.8 to 77.9) |
| Surgeons | 113 | 3.1 | 5.0 (4.2 to 6.0) | 2.5 (2.1 to 3.1) | 23.0 (15.4 to 32.9) |
| Total | 1935 | ||||
| Direct care | |||||
| ORNs | 615 | 9.3 | 16.0 (14.9 to 17.2) | 33.5 (32.3 to 35.0) | 44.9 (42.5 to 47.2) |
| RNAs | 851 | 12.9 | 17.9 (16.8 to 19.0) | 11.2 (10.5 to 12.0) | 74.3 (71.3 to 77.4) |
| Surgeons | 100 | 2.7 | 4.4 (3.6 to 5.3) | 54.2 (52.4 to 55.8) | 62.5 (60.3 to 64.7) |
| Total | 1566 | ||||
| Medication | |||||
| ORNs | 74 | 1.1 | 1.9 (1.5 to 2.4) | 0.6 (0.4 to 0.8) | 43.7 (27.4 to 60.8) |
| RNAs | 942 | 14.3 | 19.8 (18.7 to 21.0) | 7.7 (7.1 to 8.4) | 84.8 (81.5 to 87.6) |
| Surgeons | 85 | 2.3 | 3.7 (3.0 to 4.6) | 1.1 (0.8 to 1.5) | 84.3 (69.6 to 92.6) |
| Total | 1101 | ||||
| Documentation | |||||
| ORNs | 57 | 0.9 | 1.5 (1.2 to 1.9) | 1.5 (1.2 to 1.8) | 19.7 (12.2 to 29.7) |
| RNAs | 453 | 6.9 | 9.5 (8.7 to 10.4) | 5.5 (5.0 to 6.1) | 97.8 (96.0 to 98.9) |
| Surgeons | 24 | 0.7 | 1.1 (0.7 to 1.6) | 1.3 (0.9 to 1.7) | 20.2 (11.2 to 34.5) |
| Total | 534 | ||||
| Other | |||||
| ORNs | 240 | 3.6 | 6.2 (5.5 to 7.1) | 8.5 (7.8 to 9.3) | 16.4 (13.3 to 20.2) |
| RNAs | 56 | 0.9 | 1.2 (0.9 to 1.5) | 1.1 (0.9 to 1.3) | 26.9 (18.2 to 38.2) |
| Surgeons | 16 | 0.4 | 0.7 (0.4 to 1.1) | 1.1 (0.8 to 1.5) | 15.3 (7.2 to 31.1) |
| Total | 312 | ||||
| In transit | |||||
| ORNs | 89 | 1.4 | 2.3 (1.9 to 2.8) | 4.9 (4.4 to 5.5) | 12.8 (9.2 to 17.3) |
| RNAs | 112 | 1.7 | 2.4 (2.0 to 2.8) | 3.6 (3.2 to 4.1) | 49.6 (43.5 to 55.7) |
| Surgeons | 16 | 0.4 | 0.7 (0.4 to 1.1) | 0.7 (0.5 to 1.1) | 0.3 |
| Total | 217 | ||||
| Pre-indirect care | |||||
| ORNs | 59 | 0.9 | 1.5 (1.2 to 2.0) | 2.0 (1.7 to 2.4) | 42.3 (33.1 to 51.5) |
| RNAs | 93 | 1.4 | 2.0 (1.6 to 2.4) | 1.5 (1.3 to 1.9) | 41.3 (32.3 to 50.6) |
| Surgeons | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 152 | ||||
| Supervision | |||||
| ORNs | 22 | 0.3 | 0.6 (0.4 to 0.9) | 13.4 (12.5 to 14.4) | 65.9 (62.3 to 69.3) |
| RNAs | 54 | 0.8 | 1.1 (0.9 to 1.5) | 19.9 (19.0 to 21.0) | 89.0 (87.3 to 90.6) |
| Surgeons | 9 | 0.2 | 0.4 (0.2 to 0.7) | 1.4 (1.1 to 1.9) | 99.9 (99.8 to 100.0) |
| Total | 85 | ||||
| Total | 10 870 | ||||
| ORNs | 3847 | 58.3 per hour | 35.40% | 46.80% | |
| RNAs | 4752 | 72.0 per hour | 43.70% | 79.10% | |
| Surgeons | 2271 | 61.4 per hour | 20.90% | 70.80% |
*Total observation time per profession was 66 hours each for the ORNs and RNAs, whereas the surgeons were observed for 37 hours.
† CI, confidence interval