Utilization of time by administrative nurses in a large tertiary care teaching hospital

Background Nurses form the backbone of the healthcare system; their role is vital in healthcare delivery in terms of promotion, prevention, treatment, care, and rehabilitation. Nurse managers play a key role in patient care coordination and ensure quality nursing care. Apart from this, they also perform staff management, document administrative activities, and supervise hospital store activities. Efficient and effective nursing administration is essential for smooth functioning and safe patient care. Methods In an observational study in two phases, we estimated the time utilized by administrative nurses in different tasks. In the first phase, a questionnaire was developed for self-reporting various activities carried out by administrative nurses. In the second phase, activity sampling with 316 hours of observations and 15 344 nursing activities was recorded across the hospital to estimate actual time distribution and utilization of administrative nurses. Results Administrative nurses spent a major portion of their time in store management (28%), staff management (23%), and documentation (21%), and much less time for patient care supervision and teaching activities, i.e. 4%–8% of the total time available in a day. Conclusion We found that administrative nurses spent most of their time in three major activities: store management, staff management, and documentation. Their roles may need to be reviewed for them to spend more time in supervision of patient care and teaching activities.