Estimation of Working Hours of Nursing Staff in Neonatal Intensive Care Units: A Work Sampling

Background: Human resources are considered the most valuable capital of every healthcare system, and the quality of care is closely related to the quantity and skill of this group. Therefore, the proper estimation of the required nursing staff in different wards can help improve the quality of nursing care. The purpose of this study was to determine the hours of provided care by nursing staff in neonatal care units. Methods: In this descriptive study, the research samples consisted of all nursing activities done by the nursing staff including head nurses, nurses, and nurse assistants working in the neonatal intensive care units of the chosen educational hospitals affiliated with Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran. Data collection tool was a nursing checklist with four categories, including direct care, indirect care, managerial activities, and personal activities. Calculating their activity duration was done using a stopwatch. Data analysis was performed by SPSS software (version 21). Results: The obtained findings showed that the time allocated to direct care by head nurses and nurses in morning and evening shifts was always less than the time allocated to indirect care and the nurses spent most of their time doing indirect activities. Conclusion: According to the obtained results of the present, it is essential that nursing managers provide the possibility of reducing some nursing activities’ time by applying more accurate supervision and time management and thus increase the quality of care by providing purposeful healthcare.