time management essay nursing

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Time Management Strategies for Nurses: Balancing Work and Personal Life

• Last Updated: 09/30/2023

In today’s fast-paced healthcare industry, time management is crucial for nurses, especially for those working in demanding fields like critical care. Critical care nurses play a vital role in providing specialized care to critically ill patients, and they often face unique challenges that require effective time management skills. In this article, we will explore the importance of time management in nursing and discuss strategies that can help critical care nurses strike a balance between their work and personal lives.

Understanding the Importance of Time Management in Nursing

Time management is the process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between different activities effectively. In the nursing profession, where every second counts, time management is essential for providing quality patient care, maintaining productivity, and preventing burnout. Poor time management can lead to increased stress, decreased job satisfaction, and negatively impact a nurse’s work-life balance.

The Role of Time Management in Nursing

Effective time management allows nurses to prioritize their tasks, allocate sufficient time for each activity, and ensure that critical patient needs are met. By managing time efficiently, nurses can enhance their productivity, reduce stress levels, and improve patient outcomes. Time management skills also enable nurses to adapt to unexpected situations, such as emergencies or sudden changes in patient conditions, without compromising the quality of care provided.

How Poor Time Management Affects Work-Life Balance

Common time management challenges faced by nurses, shift work and irregular hours, high-stress environment and burnout, balancing patient care and administrative tasks.

Nurses have various responsibilities that extend beyond direct patient care. Administrative tasks, documentation, attending meetings, and participating in continuing education are essential aspects of nursing practice. Balancing these administrative duties with the demands of providing care to patients can be challenging, requiring effective time management skills.

Effective Time Management Strategies for Nurses

Prioritizing tasks and delegation.

Prioritization is key to effective time management . Nurses should identify and prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance. By focusing on critical patient needs first, nurses can ensure that their time is allocated appropriately. Additionally, delegation of non-critical tasks to other healthcare professionals, when possible, can help nurses free up time to concentrate on essential patient care activities.

Utilizing Technology for Time Management

In the digital age, various technological tools can assist nurses in managing their time more effectively. Utilizing electronic health records (EHRs) and nursing informatics systems can streamline documentation processes, reduce paperwork, and enable quick access to patient information. Time-saving apps and scheduling tools can also aid in organizing tasks, setting reminders, and optimizing workflow.

Implementing Breaks and Downtime

Taking regular breaks and allowing for downtime is crucial for nurses to recharge and maintain their well-being. While caring for some patients requires continuous attention, finding moments for self-care is essential. Short breaks can help nurses relieve stress, regain focus, and prevent mental and physical exhaustion. Nurses should strive to create a work environment that encourages and supports these breaks.

Achieving Work-Life Balance as a Nurse

Setting boundaries between work and personal life, the importance of self-care for nurses.

Self-care is vital for nurses’ well-being and is an integral part of maintaining work-life balance. Critical care nurses should prioritize self-care activities, such as exercise, healthy eating, getting sufficient sleep , and engaging in hobbies or relaxation techniques. Taking care of their physical and mental health allows nurses to bring their best selves to both their professional and personal lives.

Seeking Support and Using Resources

Final thoughts.

Time management plays a crucial role in the lives of nurses. By understanding the importance of time management, identifying common challenges, and implementing effective strategies, nurses can improve their work-life balance, prevent burnout, and provide high-quality care to patients.

Prioritizing tasks, utilizing technology, implementing breaks, setting boundaries, practicing self-care, and seeking support are all essential elements for achieving a harmonious balance between work and personal life as a nurse.

Remember, as a nurse, your ability to manage time effectively not only benefits you but also positively impacts the lives of the vulnerable patients under your care. By continuously honing your time management skills, you contribute to the well-being of both your patients and yourself.

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• v.37(2); 2022 May

The effect of time management education on critical care nurses’ prioritization: a randomized clinical trial

Fatemeh vizeshfar.

1 Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Mahnaz Rakhshan

Fatemeh shirazi, roya dokoohaki.

2 Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Community Based Psychiatric Care Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Nurses are at the forefront of patient care, and time management skills can increase their ability to make decisions faster. This study aimed to assess the effect of a time management workshop on prioritization and time management skills among nurses of emergency and intensive care units.

This randomized clinical trial was performed with 215 nurses. The educational intervention about time management was held in the form of a workshop for the intervention group. The time management questionnaire was completed by both groups before, immediately after, and 3 months after the intervention.

Most participants were female (n=191, 88%), with a mean age of 31.82 years (range, 22–63 years). Additionally, the participants’ work experience ranged from 1 to 30 years (mean±standard deviation, 8.00±7.15 years). After the intervention, the mean score of time management increased significantly in the intervention group, but no significant difference was observed in this regard in the control group. The results also revealed a significant difference between the intervention and control groups regarding the mean score of time management 3 months after the intervention (P<0.001).

Conclusions

Time management training helped nurses adjust the time required to perform and prioritize various tasks.

INTRODUCTION

Currently, with the increasing growth of information and businesses and, consequently, the increase in responsibilities and the resulting stress, the importance of proper time management is becoming more and more apparent. Time management refers to a set of behaviors for the optimal organization and division of time [ 1 ]. This set of behaviors leads to better use of time and increased productivity and increases the likelihood of achieving predetermined goals [ 2 ]. These behaviors include gaining skills in the areas of goal setting, prioritization, and planning as well as finding ways to reduce the waste of time [ 3 ]. Applying these skills is more important among positions with high workloads and responsibilities such as nursing. Nurses, who are an integral part of the healthcare system, face a heavy workload on a daily basis [ 4 ]. This workload, time constraints, and the need for making decisions in a limited time necessitate the application of time management skills [ 2 , 3 , 5 ]. Proper implementation of these skills facilitates the work of nurses and allows them to perform their tasks more intelligently. Additionally, implementation of these skills not only leads to the provision of better and timely care for patients, but can also reduce nurses’ work stress and increase their quality of life [ 2 ]. Nurses in intensive care units (ICUs) and emergency departments, in particular, need to implement these skills properly as they are exposed to long lasting job stressors and the challenges of dealing with critically ill patients, heavy workloads, complications, unforeseen events, and shortage of time. Overcoming these challenges requires time management skills, timely and correct decision-making, prioritization, and familiarity with different devices [ 6 - 8 ]. The persistence of these challenges can cause stress and numerous physical and mental traumas for nurses [ 8 , 9 ]. One of the problems in implementing time management skills is that they are not taken seriously and are not properly implemented. One study found that in an eight-hour work shift, 31% of the nurses’ time was spent on direct patient care, 45% on indirect care, and the remaining 24% on outpatient and personal work [ 10 ]. Personal and non-clinical work are important factors that waste nurses’ time and reduces their performance efficiency [ 11 ]. These include non-clinical or personal tasks such as unscheduled appointments, frequent phone calls, inadequate day-to-day assignments, not having a weekly or daily schedule, waiting for meetings, and the inability to say no [ 12 ].

Despite the importance of nurses’ understanding of time management and the need for proper training in these skills, there is a lack of studies on the impact of time management training courses. Thus, the present study aimed to assess the effect of a time management workshop on the prioritization and time management skills among nurses working in emergency and ICUs.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Design and setting.

The present study was a single-blind, randomized clinical trial with pre- and post-test design. This study was performed in the emergency and adult ICUs in the largest specialized and sub-specialized referral center in southern Iran (Nemazee Hospital, Shiraz, Iran). The emergency department of this hospital includes triage and screening departments, a cardiopulmonary resuscitation room, surgical emergency, acute wards I and II, and eight internal medicine, heart, and neurology wards. The adult ICU also includes an emergency ICU, two neurosurgery ICUs, a heart surgery ICU, a general ICU, and two internal medicine adult ICUs.

Participants

At the time of the study, 500 nurses were working in the emergency ward and adult ICUs. All the nurses working in these wards who met the inclusion criteria were invited to participate in the research. The inclusion criteria were working in the ICU or emergency ward as a nurse for more than 6 months, having at least a Bachelor’s degree, and not having participated in other training programs on time management. The exclusion criteria were reluctance to participate in the study, change of ward during the study, and long-term leaves such as maternity leave.

Data Collection

Considering α=5% and β=0.15 and using similar studies [ 13 ], a 171-subject sample size was estimated for this study. Considering the probability of loss, 200 nurses were selected using stratified random sampling. Each ward was considered a class. Based on the research population (500 nurses) and the approximate equality of nurses in the emergency ward and ICU (nearly 250 people in each unit) in proportion to the volume of each category, 107 emergency nurses and 108 ICU nurses were randomly selected to participate in the study via lottery. Among these nurses, 108 were allocated to the intervention group and 107 to the control group) ( Figure 1 ).

Consolidated standards of reporting trials (CONSORT) flow diagram of participant enrollment.

The study data were collected using a questionnaire consisting of two parts. The first part included demographic and occupational information of the participants such as age, sex, education level, marital status, ward, work experience, and workload (working more than required). The second part of the questionnaire was the Macan Time Management Behavior Questionnaire, which was used in the pre- and post-tests. This questionnaire was developed by Macan and colleagues in 1990, and was chosen due to the inclusion of a list of common concepts for time management behaviors as well as being validated and user-friendly. This questionnaire contained 39 items divided into six dimensions, namely goal setting (having specific goals at the beginning of a work shift), goal and activity prioritization (identifying the goals and tasks that are more important and have to be done sooner), operational planning (the extent to which goals are achieved), delegation (assigning some tasks to other colleagues in order to reduce workload and take care of more important tasks), communication management (controlling unnecessary harassment and conversation), and meeting management (attending and finishing meetings at the appointed time). The questions were both positive and negative and could be answered using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from very high to very low. Thus, the score of the questionnaire could range from 30 to 195 [ 14 , 15 ]. The validity and reliability of this questionnaire have been confirmed in various studies. Accordingly, the alpha coefficients for the subscales ranged from 0.5 to 0.9 [ 16 ]. Other researchers have also reported on the acceptable validity and reliability of this questionnaire [ 17 ]. In addition, the validity and reliability of this questionnaire have been confirmed in several studies in Iran [ 18 , 19 ].

Intervention

The study was conducted from the second half of July 2018 to January 2019. After selecting the participants and randomly assigning them to the intervention and control groups, informed consent forms were completed by all the participants. Before the intervention (time management workshops), both groups were required to complete the Time Behavior Management Questionnaire. For the intervention group, a time management training session was held in the form of a four-hour training workshop on different dimensions of time management behaviors. With the help of the educational supervisor, the intervention group was divided into three groups based on work shifts, and the time of the workshop was announced to all intervention groups. Because of the large number of intervention groups and the nurses’ rotation program that complicated the participation of some staff on certain dates, one of the researchers held the workshop in three shifts with the same content during 1 month. If a participant was not able to attend the workshop on their specified day for any reason, he/she could attend a workshop held on 1 of the other 2 other days. One of the researchers who had a PhD in nursing education and 25 years of experience in teaching nursing management courses as well as holding workshops in various fields of nursing management arranged the workshop for the intervention group. The content of the workshop included the definition of time management and its importance, practical tips on time management behaviors, time-saving techniques such as a daily activity chart, how to set and prioritize goals based on the prioritization formula, how to implement goals, to whom and how to delegate, how to deal with people who seek out nurses unnecessarily or entrust nurses with extra work that wastes time, using dead times, and managing phone calls. At the end of each section, a short practical task in the form of a case was given to the participants. At the end of the workshop, a scenario about time management of an ICU nurse was presented and the participants and the instructor (who was one of the researchers) discussed the nurse’s time management problems and strategies. Additionally, the material was summarized with the help of the participants.

It should be mentioned that both intervention and control groups received their routine continuous medical educational programs. Immediately after the end of the workshop and 3 months later, both groups were required to complete the post-test time management behaviors questionnaire. In observance of ethical principles, the control group received the educational content in the form of an educational booklet after the end of the study.

Ethical Considerations

The present study was approved by the Ethics Committee of University of Medical Sciences (No. IR.SUMS.REC.1395.46). It was also registered in Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT) with the registration number IRCT2016080927216N4 on October 31, 2016. All necessary permissions for conducting the research were obtained from the relevant administrators and all methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations. Furthermore, a session was held after the selection of the participants for explaining the study objectives and procedures. Written informed consent forms were also taken from all the participants.

Data Analysis

After the last post-test, the data were coded and entered into IBM SPSS ver. 22.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test confirmed the normality of the data. Therefore, repeated measures were used for comparing the study groups. In addition, the independent t test and chi-square test were used to compare the two groups with regard to demographic and occupational variables as well as quantitative and qualitative data. Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlation coefficients were used to determine the relationship between the mean score of time management behaviors and quantitative and qualitative demographic and occupational variables. A P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Most of the participants (n=191, 88%) were female, with the mean±standard deviation (SD) age of 31.82±8.02 years (range, 22–63 years; median, 30; interquartile range, 25–37). In addition, 117 participants (54.4%) were single and 205 (95.3%) had Bachelor’s degrees. The participants’ work experience ranged from 1 to 30 years (mean±SD, 8.00±7.15 years). Besides, 184 participants (85.6%) worked normal shifts and 31 (14.4%) did more shifts than their duties ( Table 1 ).

Comparison of the general characteristics of the intervention and control groups

Values are presented as number (%) unless otherwise indicated.

SD: standard deviation.

Before the intervention, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups regarding the mean score for time management behavior (P<0.1). After the intervention and 3 months later, however, statistically significant differences were found in the total score of time management and the three dimensions of goal setting, prioritization of goals and activities, and operational planning. On the other hand, no statistically significant differences were observed between the two groups regarding the three dimensions of delegation, communication management, and meeting management.

After the intervention, the intervention group’s total mean±SD score of time management increased from 120.38±6.06 to 132.67±7.23 (P<0.001). However, the control group’s mean score changed from 126.06±7.60 before the intervention to 126.71±6.46 after that, which was not statistically significant. Three months after the intervention, a significant difference was observed between the intervention (130.56±6.85) and control (124.95±6.61) groups concerning the total mean score of time management (P<0.001). Comparison of the two groups with respect to the total score as well as the mean scores of the model constructs at the three time points has been presented in Table 2 .

Comparison of the two groups regarding the mean scores of time management behaviors

Values are presented as mean±standard deviation.

Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlation coefficients were used to assess the relationship between the mean score of time management behaviors and demographic and occupational variables. The results revealed no statistically significant relationship between any of the demographic and occupational variables and the mean score of time management behaviors (P>0.05).

This clinical trial demonstrated that participating in the time management training workshop had a significant and positive effect on the time management and prioritization skills of the nurses in the emergency ward and ICUs. There are controversial opinions about the effect of time management training. In a similar study, a significant increase was observed in the implementation of time management skills in the areas of time control and organization among head nurses, while this difference was not significant in terms of time mechanics and goal setting skills [ 20 ]. In another study, passing these trainings did not lead to an overall significant difference. These controversies might be attributed to such factors as less frequent training courses, intensive schedule of each course, interference of nurses’ shifts, and not repeating these sessions [ 13 ]. In a previous review, of the 32 studies on time management, only seven evaluated the effects of training courses, only four of which showed a significant difference in this regard [ 21 ]. In another study, the time management training program had a positive effect on the job satisfaction of head nurses [ 22 ].

In the questionnaire used in the present study, the items were organized into six sections, namely goal setting skills, prioritization of goals and activities, operational planning, delegation, communication management, and meeting management. It should be noted that this questionnaire is one of the most valid instruments in the field of time management [ 17 ]. The current study results revealed a significant difference between the intervention and control groups regarding goal setting skills, prioritization of goals and activities, and operational planning. Other dimensions were found to be nonsignificant in other studies [ 20 ]. For example, the areas of goal setting and prioritization of goals were not significantly related, which was explained by continuous training of these skills at lower levels of education and continuous education as well as integration with daily activities [ 20 ]. The target community in the current research was nurses of emergency wards and ICUs, and thus lack of significant associations in the three areas of delegation, communication management, and meeting management could be justified by the fact that nurses in these vital wards considered their main responsibility to be direct communication with patients. They believed that managing communications and meetings and delegating authority were not as important and were the duties of head nurses or other staff. In this study, the lowest scores of both intervention and control groups were related to the goal setting dimension before intervention (intervention, 16.3; control, 15.81), which showed a significant increase after intervention (intervention, 19.27; control, 15.27). Both groups scored relatively higher from the beginning in the areas of goal prioritization and operational planning (intervention, 23.5 and 25.52, respectively; control, 23.1 and 25.41, respectively). After intervention, an increase in these scores was observed in the intervention group (intervention, 25 and 28.41, respectively; control, 23.3 and 26.93, respectively). The effect of training also remained after 3 months (goal setting, 19.3; prioritization, 25.2; and operational planning, 28.9), indicating the high quality of the training as well as the nurses’ eagerness and active participation.

The mean score of the intervention group increased from 128.36 before participating in the training course to 139.67 immediately after participating in the course and 136.22 3 months later, which was significantly higher compared to the control group. Possible factors influencing the final results included the large number of participants in the study, holding multiple courses to cover the interference of work shifts, making use of capable teachers, and active participation of nurses in the courses. Apart from the role of participating in training courses, other factors could also affect time management skills. Researchers in the present study made genuine attempts to control these factors as much as possible. These factors have been explored in various studies on nurses’ use of these skills; factors such as work experience and personal characteristics have been shown to affect time management [ 13 , 20 ]. Since there are differing views on the role of sex, age, and level of education [ 13 , 23 , 24 ], further research on the issue is warranted.

Implications for Nursing Management

The use of practical methods of time management can be the basis for reviewing the guidelines and instructions for treatment and care. Time management and prioritization are important aspects of ensuring effective patient care in ICUs. Time management techniques are learnable, and nurses may experience lower stress levels while performing their duties on time when they are aware of these techniques.

This study sought to assess the effect a time management workshop on the time management skills of nurses who work in the emergency ward and ICU. The results demonstrated that time management training enhanced the nurses’ knowledge of these skills, which could reduce the time required to perform various tasks. Nurses were able to make good use of their limited time in a work shift by learning how to prioritize tasks; plan operational activities; delegate tasks in non-specialist cases; manage communication with patients, colleagues, physicians, and patient companions; and manage sessions. Effective management also resulted in an increase in patient and nurse satisfaction.

Limitations

The present study had some limitations. It was performed only in ICUs and emergency wards in one hospital using a workshop intervention. Thus, the effectiveness of other educational methods such as virtual training is recommended for study because of the limited time nurses have for time management training. Further research in several hospitals is recommended. In the current study, the scores of the study questionnaire ranged from 30 to 195, and the mean scores of the nurses were moderate. Hence, it is necessary to provide a refresher training program to determine the factors affecting time management behaviors and how to control them with quantitative and qualitative methods, so that nurses can overcome problems through time management. Furthermore, future studies are recommended to evaluate the effectiveness of the training course on nurses’ performance.

KEY MESSAGES

▪ Time management is an important part of effective patient care in intensive care units.

▪ Time management techniques are learnable.

▪ Time management training helped nurses adjust the time required to perform and prioritize various tasks.

Acknowledgments

This research was financially supported by Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (grant No. 11202). The authors would like to express their sincerest gratitude to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences for financially supporting the research.

The authors would also like to thank Ms. A. Keivanshekouh at the Research Consultation Center (RCC) of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences for improving the use of English in the manuscript.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS

Conceptualization: FV, MR, RD. Data curation: FV, FS, RD. Formal analysis: FS. Funding acquisition: FV. Methodology: FV, MR. Visualization: FS. Writing–original draft: FV, RD. Writing–review & editing: MR, FS.

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Time Management Tips for Nurses

6 min read • May, 01 2023

As a nurse, you know time is critical when caring for emergency patient situations. Strong time management skills in nursing are also essential to your overall health and well-being, including  combating stress . A solid strategy lets you stay on top of your regular responsibilities while factoring in unexpected circumstances that arise. A well-structured schedule also creates a better work-life balance, so you don't spend your free time playing catch-up. Learn how to manage time as a nurse to ensure the best patient care and work-life harmony.

Prioritize Daily Tasks by Importance

Honing your time management skills and techniques helps eliminate pressure from the to-do clutter. That, in turn, allows you to focus on more critical tasks and what matters most — your patients. Implement these time management strategies for nurses into your day-to-day routine:

• Identify your most important tasks and create a plan.  Any nursing to-do list begins by evaluating and addressing the hierarchy of needs for your patients. That includes ensuring their core physiological needs get met before progressing to additional treatment. Basing care on this tiered system allows you to meet your patients' needs in real-time and prioritize decisions accordingly.
• Delegate where and when you can.   Delegation  fosters team cohesion. The tasks you can reassign will depend on your state's laws and a patient's condition. Knowing what's permitted upfront can free up precious time for more urgent matters.
• Say no to multitasking.  As tempting as it can be to address multiple things at once,  research  shows that multitasking is unproductive, contrary to common-sense expectations. That's because dividing your attention drains your cognitive resources and slows you down. Aim to intentionally "monotask" by carving out designated time for items on your to-do list. 
• Tune out distractions while trying to accomplish tasks.  Interruptions are inevitable as a nurse, but if you're focused on an essential chore, politely tell colleagues not to bother you unless it's a pressing matter. That may necessitate innovative workplace changes, such as creating a red-taped  "no interruption"  zone.
• Take care of lower-priority items during quiet periods.  Proactively ticking items off prepares you to react quickly to emergencies that demand your full attention.

Plan Out Your Week — With Buffers

Whether you prefer a time management nurse shift planner or Google calendar that you can sync weekly, take time to sketch out how your upcoming shifts look. That entails determining accurate estimations of commitments, including ones outside of work. Allow yourself wiggle room for the unexpected, such as traffic or shifts that run over.

Review and Assess Your Calendar Regularly

Calendar management  is  time management in nursing. Take a thoughtful and thorough review of your planner regularly to stay on top of your to-do list. When browsing your calendar, ask yourself whether each commitment makes you productive or is just busy work. Tactfully decline or clear out any tasks you can't realistically handle.

Practice Punctuality

Arriving ten to fifteen minutes before you're slated to clock in allows you breathing room to focus and prepare yourself for what the day holds. Consistent timeliness also ensures a smooth hand-off without causing gaps in patient care or forcing outgoing nurses to work past their shifts.

Take Breaks When You Can

It's typical for nurses to skip their breaks to prioritize wrapping up tasks or patient care. But like multitasking, missing allotted rest periods can be counterintuitive. It leaves you feeling exhausted and less effective during the rest of your shift. When possible, take fifteen minutes to rest your mind and body to keep your energy level and mental stamina high. 

Leave Work at Work

There are hard time management skills in nursing, such as scheduling. Then there are softer skills, like acknowledging and managing stress and anxiety. As a nurse, compassion is one of your most profound strengths — but it can also be a double-edged sword. Worrying about patients when you're off the clock eats into your precious downtime, leaving you depleted and inattentive to loved ones. That's why time management is important in nursing and contributes to demonstrating nursing excellence .

Do your best to leave the job behind when your shift ends. That may mean muting notifications on your phone and checking in with colleagues during specific designated times only. Effective nursing time management skills involve practicing manageable, evidence-based coping skills for alleviating anxiety or depression, such as relaxation techniques.

Maximize Your Time Off

A central tenet of practical time management skills for nurses is utilizing your time off strategically. If you work  twelve-hour shifts , use your days off to catch up on routine home tasks like:

• Meal prep.  This will help you decide what to eat during a long or overnight shift when the cafeteria is closed.
• Wash your scrubs separately from other items. Tackling this on your day off lets you clean them all at once.
• If you're too exhausted during working days to exercise, use your days off to get moving. Focus on exercises that prevent injuries common to nurses, such as shoulder shrugs for reducing muscle strain.
• Have your nursing bag packed and waiting by the door to make getting out the door much easier.

Be sure to allow yourself designated downtime. Adequate rest is critical to reducing burnout in nurses  and staying productive and grounded at work. Find more nursing wellness tips and resources at ANA's  Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation.

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Time Management of a Nurse Graduate Essay

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Introduction

Transition is a complicated period for any employee, and nurses often experience more demanding changes in their work environment since the number of adjustments required is immense. This process is even more challenging for a fresh graduate who barely had any practice in a setting that requires its own way of thinking. While it is expected from a nurse to be ready for challenges, both physical and emotional, reality shock often marks the beginning of one’s journey in this profession (Zerwekh & Garneau, 2017). This essay discusses why time management is a critical skill for a nurse graduate and what strategies can be employed to alleviate the impact of transition from a student to a healthcare worker.

In nursing, time management creates a challenge for fresh graduates that can lead to quick disappointment in their choice of profession. Over time, new developments in nursing made this profession even more demanding, and the expected workload continues to grow (Chang & Daly, 2019). Nowadays, the pressure from this job is higher than from many others. Wong et al. (2018) state that “the responsibility of a RN is heavier than that of a student nurse because they are accountable for each action and decision” (p. 33). While that does not imply that past experience can not help, the transition will pose a significant challenge to any graduate without a sufficient amount of experience.

Many nurses meet new obstacles that did not present themselves as such in practice. Working conditions are one of the primary reasons for high rates of turnover among fresh nurses (Laschinger et al., 2016). Heavy workload in conjunction with time pressure often leads to the lack of balance between work and life (Laschinger et al., 2016). Even if a nurse achieves high results, without a good sense of time, he or she will more likely fail to reach all the set goals (Nayak, 2018). Moreover, nurse graduates who prioritize results without considering their personal needs will stress themselves out much quicker. The ability to properly manage work schedules comes to all nurses eventually, although a conscious effort speeds up the process significantly.

The issues stemming from improper time management can be alleviated by a proper strategy. A nurse must know how to stay in full mental and physical health despite any pressure from work (Chang & Daly, 2019). Simultaneously, newly graduated nurses must learn how to work more efficiently and complete the tasks in the minimum time possible (Nayak, 2018). These challenges can be resolved by addressing each one of them separately.

To ensure that the job does not replace his or her life, a nurse must learn how to prioritize tasks and distinguish between personal and organizational values. By following the code of ethics, a nurse can differentiate between these two notions and ensure that he or she stays within the scope of required duties (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). It can be beneficial for a nurse to incorporate coping strategies into his or her workflow to prevent getting burned out (Laschinger et al., 2016). Avoiding constant personal involvement can also reduce stress from work.

Often, nurses work overtime or stay at work late due to unfinished tasks. Every opportunity to save time counts, which makes foresight and workload estimation crucial parts of the nursing profession (Talebi, Ahmadi, & Kazemnejad, 2019). For a nurse to preserve time and spend it wisely, cooperation, discipline, and self-regulation are mandatory skills that must be acquired in practice prior to graduation (Talebi et al., 2019). Philips et al. (2015) argue that “a focus on socialization of new graduate nurses is required to support transition to practice” (p. 120). Help from others can be a crucial step for a new nurse who has trouble adjusting his or her work schedule.

One of the strategies that can help a fresh nurse to address issues with time management is prompt feedback. If the work environment causes too much stress and leads to a decrease in productivity, a nurse must not hesitate with expressing his or her concerns (Phillips, Esterman, & Kenny, 2015). For example, this issue can be resolved by asking to be appointed to tasks that are less complex and do not include extensive decision-making processes (Phillips et al., 2015). Feedback can also help with other issues at a workplace that hinder one’s performance, such as toxicity and incivility (Laschinger et al., 2016). While there are times when difficult tasks are unavoidable, asking to be reassigned is not a crime.

In conclusion, this profession requires good time management skills, and fresh nurses who are unable to spend their time in an optimal way tend to get burned out due to stress. While it is up to an organization to establish a supportive environment, nurses who develop healthy relationships with other employees will be able to alleviate pressure from complex tasks by using cooperation and teamwork. Having more autonomy in setting the difficulty of their duties and adjusting their time schedule can also help new nurses with acclimation to the work environment.

Chang, E., & Daly, J. (2019). Transitions in nursing eBook: Preparing for professional practice (5th ed.). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier Health Sciences.

Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2016). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management (7th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby.

Laschinger, H. K., Cummings, G., Leiter, M., Wong, C., MacPhee, M., Ritchie, J., … Read, E. (2016). Starting out: A time-lagged study of new graduate nurses’ transition to practice. International Journal of Nursing Studies , 57 , 82-95.

Nayak, S. G. (2018). Time management in nursing – Hour of need. International Journal of Caring Sciences , 11 (3), 1997-2000. Web.

Phillips, C., Esterman, A., & Kenny, A. (2015). The theory of organisational socialisation and its potential for improving transition experiences for new graduate nurses. Nurse Education Today , 35 (1), 118-124.

Talebi, M., Ahmadi, F., & Kazemnejad, A. (2019). Dynamic self-regulation as an effective time management strategy for clinical nurses: A qualitative study. Collegian , 26 (4), 463-469.

Wong, S. W., Che, W. S., Cheng, M. T., Cheung, C. K., Cheung, T. Y., Lee, K. Y., … Yip, S. L. (2018). Challenges of fresh nursing graduates during their transition period. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice , 8 (6), 30.

Zerwekh, J., & Garneau, A. Z. (2017). Nursing today: Transition and trends (9th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Saunders.

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With a busy schedule, it’s important to make the most of your time during the working day. Abi Rimmer talks to four experts about how to do this successfully

Don’t neglect self care

Laura-Jane Smith, consultant in respiratory and internal medicine at King’s College London, says, “In the clinical environment it may feel like you have little control over your time but there are things you can do. Successful prioritisation is a skill that you can develop, and batching related tasks can also help. If you need to concentrate, mute your phone and ask a colleague to hold your bleep. If you’re always leaving late, tracking your time using a diary or an app like Clockify can help you understand how you could work smarter.

“For career progression, identify what you most want to achieve and write it down. You don’t need grand aims—just set goals that are meaningful to you and be realistic about what steps are needed to achieve them. Give yourself deadlines and discuss progress with a mentor or supervisor.

“If you feel unable to manage your time, take a critical look at whether the problem is you or your environment. Colleagues or family may be asking too much of you and you may need to say no. Sometimes telling someone about your other commitments is enough. Sometimes you need to be more direct. If your boss keeps asking for more, ask which existing tasks can be deferred, in order to prioritise the new.

“Most importantly, take time for yourself. Decision fatigue has potentially serious consequences. Walk the outside route between wards to get some fresh air. Make plans outside work and keep them. Commit to spending time on things that bring you professional satisfaction and personal joy. Self care is not a luxury, it’s a responsibility.”

Follow five principles

Trevor Bibic, learning and development consultant at Brightbloom Training, says, “Start with the basics.

“Get it out of your head—trying to juggle everything you need to do in your head will overwhelm your brain’s ability to process information, make decisions, and be creative. Whatever the source, capture the things you need to do, both personal and professional, in a system you trust.

“Prioritise prioritising—do you regularly dedicate time to prioritising for the day, week, or month ahead before you accumulate more actions? Time is one of your most precious resources. You have to choose what you will and won’t do or risk being driven by the actions that are shouting the loudest at the time.

“Automate or delegate—what tasks can you create an autopilot for? For example, paying bills by direct debit, getting a cleaner, or setting rules in your inbox to help your emails sort themselves. These actions then become something you only have to consciously interact with once in a while.

“Identify manageable actions—when you are feeling overwhelmed or something seems too challenging, identify the smallest possible next action that you feel you can do and do it. Then the next and so on. This helps create momentum.

“Email is not your to-do list—if the email contains an action then put the action in your system and don’t rely on revisiting it in your inbox.

“Finally, treat this as a learning experience, be forgiving when things don’t work, and celebrate the wins.”

Set boundaries

Ellie Mein, medico-legal adviser at the Medical Defence Union, says, “Although time management can’t increase the hours in the day or reduce your workload, it can help you feel more in control and reduce stress. It can also help you achieve your personal and professional goals and ensure you have enough time to effectively communicate with patients and colleagues and perform administrative tasks.

“With heavy workloads, effective time management is also important for clinician wellbeing and patient safety. A study by the University of Manchester and Keele University found that burnout was associated with an increase in the likelihood of unsafe care and unprofessional behaviour, such as not following treatment guidelines and poor quality communication. 1 The researchers also found that patient satisfaction was likely to be lower when doctors were physically, emotionally, and mentally exhausted.

“Good time managers take a few minutes at the start of their day to prioritise tasks and consider how much time is needed to perform them. It can help to make a list, setting priorities according to urgency. You might think it’s quicker to do everything yourself but appropriate delegation can help you to be more efficient.

“Although it can be easier said than done, try not to be distracted by non-urgent tasks and focus on your priorities. If a task seems overwhelming, break it down into smaller parts which are more achievable.

“Recognise that being a good team player doesn’t equate to never saying no. Setting boundaries in a polite but firm way can help safeguard your time, allowing you to focus on the urgent tasks that only you can do.”

Plan and prioritise

Sarah Christie, executive coach, says, “With increasing workloads and fewer resources, it’s easy to fall into the habit of fire-fighting crises, while your to-do list gets longer.

“Accept that you will not get everything done on your to-do list each day, but make a list anyway, so that you can track what needs to be done.

“Rate your tasks in order of priority. Which ones must be done this week and cannot be delegated? Make sure these are ones that you rate as very important and highly urgent.

“Prepare a weekly schedule. Put in all your regular commitments such as meetings and clinics, and then look at it each day. Schedule in as many of your top priority tasks as you can.

“Be realistic about how long each task will take and allow some extra time because often things take longer than anticipated. Do not schedule back to back commitments in your day or you will slip straight back into feeling overwhelmed. Having gaps will give you the flexibility to move your planned tasks around, without causing you more stress if unexpected events occur.

“Most importantly of all, protect your planned schedule. Focus on your priorities and get them done.

“When your top priority tasks are complete you can then repeat the process with the next lot of tasks on your list—the ones that are also very important but not as urgent.

“Make this planning process a weekly habit and you will soon be back in control of your workload and your life.”

Trevor Bibic will be delivering the seminar “Getting things done” at BMJ Live on 4-5 October 2019 at the Olympia Conference Centre in London. Register for free at: https://live.bmj.com

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Time Management in Nursing Work

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Objective: To view the importance of time management in nursing work and to find the best steps and strategies that help in time management.

Methodology: integrative review with the following guiding questions: What's time management? How to manage time in the nursing work? What are the strategies used in managing time? Searches were performed in Medline, EBSCO, WILEY, Elsevier databases, and RCN publishing company. Reviewing articles from different journals that published from 2005-2012, and books that concerning about the topic with the following categories: management, leadership, free time, nursing work, and administration of the time.

Results: The results highlight that the nurses have to use the strategies in their works in order to deliver better quality care, get more done and feel less stressed in the process, as well as to develop their self's.

Conclusion: Proper planning and good organization of time with the proper implementation of the plans and positive disposition towards wasting time gives us a successful and effective management of time.

Keywords: Time Management; Time Strategies; Time in Workplace; Free Time, Nursing.

Introduction

Managers have four kinds of resources: people, equipment, money, and time. Of these the time is irreplaceable, which means the time management skills are essential for success (Pearce, 2007). Nursing is a very demanding career. In nursing work nurses work not only have tons of things to get done, but also forced to make some decisions. For that the importance of time management started.

Time Management is the method which used to organize our time, so each decision we make regarding that is useful, constructive and the most beneficial to our life's structures. "It's one of the necessary conditions for managers' efficacy and one of the strategies for improving the conditions of organization survival, can be establish in an organization successfully if the appropriate cultural backgrounds have already been established for this system" (Hashemzadeh et al., 2011, p. 2536).

Understanding of time management and leisure planning principles can affect physical and mental health (Trenberth, 2005). Allowing ourselves to consciously choose how to spend our time, in the context of a holistic approach to life, rather than being dictated and constrained by a specific role, may lead to increased happiness and to a more balanced sense of self (Bresciani, Duncan & Cao, 2010).

Methodology

A integrative review was undertaken using the electronic medical databases include; Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), EBSCO, WILEY, Elsevier databases, and RCN publishing company. Keywords used in the search included: Time Management; Time Strategies; Time In Workplace; Free Time, Nursing. The inclusion criteria used were: articles published in English in the period from January 2005 to November 2012.

Also some books included in this review but not limited to publishing year. The exclusion of the primary articles took place due to the following reasons: repeated articles in the databases, articles not in English language, not available in full for free access.

Management is the science that includes the planning, organization and coordination, guidance and oversight. Henri Fayol defined management as "planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling the work of a given set of employees" (Wren, 1972, p. 9). Due to the importance of management not only in practice, but even in our daily lives, the time plays an important role and a key role in our life.

Time Management is a way to develop and use processes and tools for maximum efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity. It involves mastery of a set of skills like setting goals, planning. And also its effective use of time to achieve desired results (Downs, 2008). In time management we are managing our time better, we are simply making better decisions about what we do and how we will do it, at the end we have better performance.

The management and organizing the time help us to complete our works faster, with less effort and allows us to seize opportunities. It's associated with administrative works through a continuous process of planning and analysis and evaluation of all activities carried out by administrative during working hours daily, in order to achieve high investment of time available to reach the desired goals, the time in the administrative process must be seen as a resource, and should be built on flexible ideas. Proper planning and good organization of time with the proper implementation of the plan and positive disposition towards wasting time gives us a successful and effective management of time.

Pareto's Principle

The 80/20 Rule, also known as Pareto's Principle, says that 20 percent of something always are responsible for 80 percent of the results. For example, twenty percent of the products will have eighty percent of the flaws. This Rule tells how we can use it to more effectively to manage our time and many different aspects of our life. Also another theory which is Pickles Jar Theory which deals with the aspect of creating proper balance, it helps us to visualize priorities, as well as the amount and size of tasks that can be done realistically on a given day (Brogan, 2010).

How to manage our time?

''The essence of time management is to put some things first, others second, and still others third. Set goals and order them from most to least important. Then develop a time plan for meeting them. Control your actions in order to make the most of your time. Learning to manage time means learning to manage yourself'' (Katey & Torres, 2006, p. 1).

Many researchers and writers wrote and discuss the strategies for time management. Walker, Wysocki & Kepner (2012) proposed five tips for Managing Time in the Workplace:

"(1) Prioritize your tasks;

(2) Get the job done right the first time;

(3) Do not waste time;

(4) Delegate tasks;

(5) Avoid procrastination" (p. 1).

Also they concluded that " Focusing on these common areas of managing time should reduce the amount of time spent on each task. Prioritizing is simple once a to-do-list is utilized that fits your style; this requires the ability to distinguish what is important and/or urgent during the day. Adjusting the way tasks are executed will save time and minimize procrastination. Delegating tasks to the most appropriate person will reduce wasted time for you and others. Finally, dealing with the sources of procrastination will go a long way to making you an effective manager of time'' (p. 3).

Pickles Jar Theory

This theory teach us the right way to manage time, it's very simple to understand and execute, it also makes us aware of the fact that distractions that lead to mismanagement that should be avoided completely in order to follow the right track (Sengupta, 2011). The basic idea is that you should schedule only your high priority tasks for the day and leave the gaps in between for less important activities (email, browsing and so forth). This is supported by the analogy of a pickle jar, where you can fit more in the jar if you add large pebbles first before pouring in smaller pebbles and sand (rather than adding the largest pebbles last when they will be unlikely to fit).

Managing time in nursing work

Being a nurse naturally comes with some stress and difficulties on the job, with a little planning and prioritizing, nurses can better manage the time they have at work, allowing them to provide better care for themselves and their patients. Time management that can help nurses balance their professional and personal lives more efficiently and effectively, it's important to learn how to manage nursing time at work effectively to reduce stress and ensure you provide quality care.

Time management is recognized as an important component of work performance and professional nursing practice, nurses using different strategies of time management. Learning time management skills in nursing lets nurses work smarter instead of harder. This skill is crucial to survive the day to day busy shift (Rosario, 2012). The amount of time required for a nursing member to spend on any activity in nursing practice is important for nursing manager in order to schedule and task allocation (Munyisia, Yu & Hailey, 2011).

Jones ( 2012) mentioned some tips for time management which include:

(1) Arrive early to plan your work (that way you will never be late),

(2) list activities that need to be done (his allows you to transfer tasks from your mind into a paper, then your brain space becomes available for something else),

(3) priorities these activities (prioritize patient care using categories, write everything down, cross items off as you complete them, and re- prioritize as events unfold throughout the day),

(4) estimate the time needed for each,

(5) be conscious of the amount of time spent on different tasks,

(6) allow time for unscheduled activities or errors (if not the time will be wasted),

(7) learn to say no, finally;

(8) organize your home life; prioritize and delegate tasks at home to reduce stress, make relaxation a must do in your life.

Benefits of time management in nursing work

Nursing can be an especially demanding career. Most nurses have a lot of things they are responsible for and to make quick decisions about patient care and well-being. Improving time management plans can make the nurse much more efficient nurse, one that will be able to attend to the needs of more patients in less time. In some cases, it may give the nurse more time to speak with and to know those that he is caring for, in others, knowing how to do things quickly could mean saving a life. Of course, better time management doesn't just help patients, it can also be a big stress relief for those working in advanced environment. Knowing how to prioritize the tasks each shift can make a big difference in lowering stress and helping to manage the nurse work, less stress can also help you arrive to spend time relaxing or socializing with the family without feeling completely exhaustion and nervous.

Free time management

Wei, Chin, Tzung, and Chung (2011) referring free time to those periods when individuals are unobligated and can decide his works. And it usually involves ''killing time'' if not objective this free time, also having no plans for free time can cause problems, "While time management can improve the quality of work, the management of free time can contribute to the quality of life" (p. 561-562).

Trenberth (2005) concluded in her study that leisure can contribute to physical, social, emotional and cognitive health through prevention, coping and transcendence. And also she suggested that educating and counseling people on how to manage their time and plan for leisure can help people apply those skills and improve physical and mental health. In Wei, Chin, Tzung, and Chung (2011) study they recommended to have the opportunities not only for recreation, but also for leisure education to teach students how to manage their free time.

Finally, it is easy to blame others or circumstances, but the human remains responsible for his time. If people do not make use of time management and its benefits, they will not be benefited from the services of science and technology (Hashemzadeh et al., 2011).

Time management is the ability of person to use the time function to accomplish the tasks in the exact timing. When we are successful at time management, we are able to maximize use of every hour of the day. This means using each hour of our day to do the right things to accomplish all of the tasks that we need to in the most efficient manner. More time management more achievement, less stress. Nursing is a demanding and stressful occupation, thus the nurses should be organized. Managing time effectively, knowing when to delegate and thinking critically are essential.

The organization of time usually linked to the person self, who determines times and work, and entertainment time, and the organization aims only to make the best achievements and reduce the pressure and stress on the person as well as allow that time to develop him/herself. So there is no one style fits all people, every individual must be responsible for him/herself and to organize his/her time according to his/her needs.

Brogan, J. (2010). Expand Your Pareto Principle. Industrial Engineer: IE, 42(11), 45-49. Retrieved from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/

Bresciani, M. J., Duncan, A. J., & Cao, L. H. (2010). Embracing the Ambiguity: Twelve Considerations for Holistic Time Management. About Campus, 17-21. doi:10.1002/abc.20037. Published online in Wiley Online Library (www.wileyonlinelibrary.com)

Downs, L. J., & American Society for Training and Development. (2008). Time management training. Alexandria, Va: ASTD Press.

Hashemzadeh, G. R., Ranjbar, V., Moosavi, S. T., & Eidi, F. (2011). The Role of Organizational Culture in the Establishment of Time Management (A Case Study: Mines and Mineral Industries). Aust. J. Basic & Appl. Sci, 5(12), 2536-2543.

Jones, J. R. (2012, May 23). Time is on your side. Nursing Standard, 26(38), 70-71.

Katey , W., & Torres, N. I. (2006, August). Time Management for Busy People. University of Florida. Retrieved October 18, 2012. Retrieved from http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu

Munyisia, E. N., Yu, P., & Hailey, D. (2011). How nursing staff spend their time on activities in a nursing home. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 67(9), 1908-1917.

Pearce, C. (2007, April). Leadership resources: Ten Steps to manage time. Nursing Management, 14(1), 23. Retrieved from: http://nursingmanagement.rcnpublishing.co.uk/arc hive/article-ten-steps-to-managing-time

Rosario, P. D. (2012). 6 Nursing Time Management Skills You Should Have | NurseTogether.com. All About Nurses, Nurse Communication, Nurse Community | Nurse Together. Retrieved from http://www.nursetogether.com/Lifestyle/Lifestyle- Article/itemid/3260.aspx#.UJ6pX-TqmyU

Sengupta, S. (2011, March 28). Time Management Theories. Buzzle. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/time-management- theories.html

Trenberth, L. (2005). The role, nature and purpose of leisure and its contribution to individual development and well-being. British Journal of Guidance & Counseling, 33(1), 1-6.

Walker, S., Wysocki, A., & Kepner, K. (2012, February). Managing Time in the Workplace. University of Florida, p.1-3.

Wei, C. W., Chin, H. K., Tzung, C. H., & Chung, C. W. (2011). Free Time Management Contributes to Better Quality of Life: A Study of Undergraduate Students in Taiwan. Journal of Happiness Studies, 12, 561-573.

Wren, D. A. (1972). The evolution of management thought. New York, USA: Ronald Press

Nizar Belal Said, MSc in Emergency and Critical Care Nursing-Pediatrics, BsN, RN Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine

Correspondence: Nizar Belal Said, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, An Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine. Email: [email protected] , [email protected]

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The objective of this paper is to view the importance of time management in nursing work and to find the best steps and strategies that help in time management. Searches were performed using Medline, EBSCO, WILEY, Elsevier databases, and in RCN publishing company. Reviewing articles from different journals that published from 2005-2012, and books concerning about the topic with the following categories: management, leadership, free time, nursing work, and administration of the time were also been used. The results highlight that nurses have to use strategies in their works in order to deliver better quality care, get more done and feel less stressed in the process, as well as to develop theirselves. Proper planning and good organization of time with the proper implementation of plans and positive disposition towards wasting time give nurses a successful and effective management of time.

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How To Effectively Manage Time As a Nurse

Careers in nursing can be exciting, invigorating and rewarding, but they can also be a little stressful. The healthcare industry offers many enriching career paths, but some of those paths may prove a little demanding.

As you can see below, the typical nurse spends more than three-fourths of the working day interacting with colleagues and patients and managing medication. It can result in days that are exhilarating, but they may also be a little challenging at times. Those new to the field may want to enhance their nurse time management skills early on in their career to help them stay ahead of any stress that might arise. These skills will allow them to focus on what brought them to a  career in nursing  in the first place: delivering quality care to patients.

If you are new to the nursing profession – or still considering nursing schools – you owe it to yourself to take a look at the infographic below. Note how seemingly-simple tactics such as knowing when to ask questions, when to take charge and when to conduct in-depth research reinforces the fact you are in control. It also helps those you work with see it as well. Developing good nursing time management skills is equally important, as those skills will help you better manage the demands of a busy day.

Stress may occur, but careers in nursing are worth it. By adopting and mastering certain basic proficiencies, you can better manage your time – and your career!

How to Effectively Manage Time as a Nurse 

Transitioning from full time student to a full time nurse can be challenging. Jumping into the real world requires the ability to make quick decisions and multi-task. Naturally, feelings of stress and anxiety may arise. But adopting and practicing good time management skills can help new nurses transition into seasoned professionals in not time.

A day in the life of a nurse. On a typical day, a nurse spends 76 percent of time on medication tasks and interacting with professionals. The other 37 percent of the time is spent with patients. They can complete up to 72 tasks per hour, have 2 interruptions per hour, and on average complete a task in 55 seconds.

Build up your skills. According to an A M N Healthcare survey, the number one concern shared by professional nurses is the pressure they feel not to make a mistake. 

Prepare for pressure by looking for the following items: recognizing their limitations, accepting responsibility for errors, learning from experiences, accessing resources independently, asking questions, and demonstrating engagement.

You can build up your confidence by speaking up and speaking confidently, taking charge of any situation, offering concrete instructions, eliminating words like “I think” before making recommendations, do research first, be prepared and ready to answer questions, enjoy what you do, exhibiting curiosity, contributing, pushing yourself, and embracing change.

Perfect your routine. By enhancing your skills and forming good habits and routines, your days will go by smoothly, and your confidence level and job satisfaction will both rise. 

Follow these steps to help perfect your routine.

• Arrive Early: Arrive 10 to 20 minutes early, make a list of daily tasks, read patient reports and map out shift, put tasks on paper to reduce stress, and cross them off to reinforce achievements. 
• Prioritize: Rank items on list with good judgement to anticipate quick decisions as needed, categorize items by priority. 
• Reduce Interruptions: Ask yourself what is more important and block out some time in your day to deal with inevitable interruptions. 
• Organize: Keep an organized workspace and supply area. 
• Anticipate: Anticipate the needs of your patients and gather supplies early. 
• Take Breaks: This will help you collect your thoughts, relax, and focus. 
• Don’t be too hard on yourself: No one is perfect. Enjoy what you do and learn from experiences.

Manage your time and your career. 

Establishing effective time management skills is essential to remaining focused. Equally important, these skills enable nursing professionals to give patients the care they deserve. 

Use these tips as a starting point, but constantly communicate with colleagues and explore additional time management techniques. This helps ensure growth and improvement, as well as reduce stress. 

Sacred Heart University 

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Time Management Tips for Nursing Students

Are you frustrated because you do not have enough time in your day to finish your tasks? You may have found that if you don’t control your schedule, it controls you. Many nursing students find their days filled with studying, research, clinicals, part-time jobs, and trying to fit in a social life.

At the end of each day, many nursing students face a far-from-finished “to-do” list and looming class deadlines. We’ve all been here before:

• I keep getting distracted by notifications.
• My “to-do” list is so long I’m overwhelmed just looking at it.
• There are too many “top” priorities.
• I’m stressed because I can’t get everything done.
• I can’t focus. I’m pulled in too many directions.

With the right time management tips and an effective system, you can plan your days and weeks to finish your work with less effort. With these time management and focus techniques, you will waste less time and feel more energized at the end of the day.

Good time management skills help you change your lifestyle for the better, leading to less stress and more control. On this page, we offer ways to help you better manage your time and energy while you’re in nursing school.

Simple Time Management Techniques for Nursing Students

Data demonstrates that when nursing students are under stress, they allot much of their time to academic tasks to overcome stress. Yet, researchers found that students need to allot time for extracurricular activities to be satisfied and avoid nurse burnout .

Using time management strategies helps you become more organized. It can help you make the most of your time. You can prioritize the tasks needed, so you have leisure time without stress. Good time management reaps:

• Greater productivity
• Reduced stress
• Improved efficiency
• More opportunities to achieve your goals
• Greater opportunities for professional advancement

These skills will come in handy when you face nursing finals or have a more hectic schedule.

The following techniques can be used alone or combined together. They don’t require buying anything or subscribing to apps.

Time Blocking

Time blocking is a management tool that focuses your efforts throughout the day into blocks of time dedicated to a specific task. Most people jump from task to task based on a “to-do” list. Time blocking requires that you prioritize the task list ahead of time.

Your time during the day is blocked out to accomplish specific tasks. At the end of each day, review the tasks that were not finished and adjust the time blocks for the following day. For example, you may have blocked the following:

Classes 8 a.m. – 11 a.m.

Lunch 11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Classes 12 p.m. – 3 p.m.

Grocery Shopping 3 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Studying 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Dinner 6 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Studying 7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Relaxing 9 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.

At the end of the day, you might have skipped grocery shopping. Then, you would need to adjust the next day’s schedule to accommodate the task. This type of time management front-loads the planning to reduce decision-making throughout the day.

If it’s possible, many people find slotting the task you least prefer first makes the rest of the day more productive.

How to Do It

Timeboxing is less intense than time blocking. In time blocking, you plan ahead by breaking down tasks to complete in the time you have. For timeboxing, you dedicate one block of time to spend on one task.

This technique is handy for prioritizing the least appealing tasks on your list or for preventing procrastination of long-term projects.

For example, you have a cumulative physiology nursing final next week. Using the timeboxing method, you can set a fixed amount of time, let’s say three hours, on your calendar each weeknight leading up to the final.

Once you set the time on your calendar, treat it like a scheduled meeting. Don’t reschedule or get distracted by other events. Dedicate these three hours to studying for your final.

Benefits to timeboxing include:

• It’s easier to force yourself to work on tasks you don’t enjoy or will be hard to do.
• You can set strict limits on the day and time that helps with organization.
• It helps boost productivity and focus when you ensure no one interrupts or distracts you from your task. You impose a time limit on yourself to complete a specific task.

Task Batching

Task batching means you group similar and smaller tasks together in a specific time block. This time management tool helps you power through your smaller tasks in one sitting.

Many people believe that multitasking is a good way to get a lot done in a short amount of time. However, you likely know from experience that checking email, eating lunch, and listening to an online conference cannot be done together. You might miss something in the conference or respond to the wrong emails. Multitasking actually costs the U.S. economy $450 million every year! The lack of focus increases the likelihood of mistakes and reduces productivity.

Task batching is a variation of time blocking. In fact, you can include task batching in your time blocking calendar. For example, you could block 30 minutes twice a day to check emails, respond to notifications, and scroll through your social media if you have time.

The benefit of task batching is it can help you from impulsively checking notifications or abandoning current responsibilities to respond to emails.

Day Theming

Day theming is a more advanced version of time blocking. You can use this time management tool for more complex projects or ongoing work. Instead of devoting a couple of hours to a task, you focus your whole day on working on one initiative. For example, if your anatomy nursing final is the next day, you may focus an entire day on studying for that final.

Day theming may not work consistently as a time management tool for your studies as a nursing student since you’ll often be juggling several deadlines at once. Instead, day theming can come in handy for running errands, cleaning, applying to scholarships or internships, or even self-care for nurses .

The Pomodoro Technique

The Pomodoro Technique is a proven way of becoming more productive and developing better study habits. All you need is a timer. This strategy encourages you to work with the time limits you already have in your calendar.

The basic strategy is to break your work time into 25-minute chunks followed by 5-minute breaks. These 30-minute time periods are called pomodoros. After four pomodoros, you take a longer break of 15-20 minutes. The idea is that the timer instills in you a sense of urgency and limits distractions.

The forced breaks help keep you from getting frazzled or burned out. This technique can be incorporated into any form of time blocking. For example, you may have blocked 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. to work on a term paper. Instead of writing for two straight hours, you might be more productive by writing for 25 minutes and taking a 5-minute break. Determine how many words you want to write in each 25-minute block, and then go for it!

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New graduate nurse time management

A game-based approach accelerates time management skills. .

• Time management is an essential skill for nurses, especially new graduates.
• Using a novel board game, Nurse Life, nurses better understand how integrating time management strategies into clinical practice contributes to optimizing patient care.

Nurses are bound to time. It guides their entire day as they manage multiple patients and tasks, constantly prioritizing and reprioritizing. From medication administration and patient testing to time-outs before a procedure, time management is critical to ensuring proper care delivery, recognizing a patient’s changing condition, and optimizing workflows.

New graduate nurses join the profession with a strong theoretical foundation and an opportunity to enhance their clinical knowledge and skills. Organizations can support these novices by providing new graduate residency programs that include time management skills to help bridge the gap between theory and clinical practice.

A novel approach

Throughout the residency program at Advocate Aurora Health, new graduates are encouraged to apply time management strategies to connect meaning with nursing activities. These strategies align with expectations established by the American Nurses Credentialing Center Practice Transition Accreditation Program. (See Time management strategies .)

Time management strategies

Before nurses in the new graduate nurse residency program play the Nurse Life game, they meet in small groups to learn a variety of time management strategies and brainstorm how to apply them to clinical practice. Each strategy is reinforced while the new graduates play the game.

• A, B, C, D approach (to-do lists). This strategy identifies items that A bsolutely must get done, items that are B etter completed sooner than later, items that C an wait until later, and items that can be D elegated. Making this type of to-do list helps nurses prioritize what needs to be done.
• Be proactive. Being proactive means taking the opportunity to complete low-priority tasks when time is available, which provides a time buffer in case unforeseen events occur. For example, a patient is scheduled to be discharged later in the day, but the nurse takes advantage of time available earlier in the shift to begin completing essential discharge components.
• Bedside shift report. The bedside shift report improves communication among caregivers, patients, and families. The nurse going off duty can share the plan of care, and the oncoming nurse can perform a quick visual assessment and prioritize care for the upcoming shift.
• Clustering care. New graduate nurses should be prepared to complete more than one task while in a patient room. Clustering care while performing purposeful hourly rounding is encouraged. For example, a nurse uses time during a patient assessment to deliver a fresh pitcher of water, answer care plan questions, and provide patient education.
• Delegation. Effective time management requires new graduate nurses to understand how delegation impacts daily practice. They must know their state’s nurse practice act, which defines what can be delegated, and use critical thinking to determine when it’s appropriate.
• Prioritization and reprioritization. Nurses must be able to determine which patients or care activities should be provided first, second, and third. The A, B, C, D approach and bedside shift report aid prioritization.
• Purposeful hourly rounding. This strategy allows the nurse to proactively address a patient’s needs and should be used in conjunction with clustering care.
• Seek assistance. As new graduate nurses navigate task completion, they should become familiar with key team members and available resources and ask for help when they need it.

Expiration: 3/1/24

Recognizing that new graduate nurses gravitate toward task completion, we created Nurse Life, a customizable board game, and integrated it into our systemwide new graduate nurse residency program. The game includes a variety of nursing activities and time-management techniques to enhance new graduates’ understanding that completing nursing tasks is a piece of a puzzle that fits into a larger picture and to demonstrate how time management strategies can op­timize patient care.

New graduates are divided into small groups of four to five players and one charge nurse. Each group has a Nurse Life game board, spinner, game pieces, and each player receives timecards that equal 720 minutes (equivalent to a 12-hour shift). The charge nurse is responsible for managing the “time bank” and is an active player. The time bank consists of index cards worth 15, 30, and 60 minutes. Before the game starts, the charge nurse distributes the timecards to each player, including themselves. As the game progresses, the charge nurse adds or deducts time accordingly.

The game board includes a variety of nursing activity circles with completion times and blue time management strategy circles. When a nurse lands on an activity circle, the charge nurse deducts the designated time from their total. When the nurse passes a blue time management strategy circle, the charge nurse awards 30 minutes. Nurses are given 15 minutes to play the game. The nurse with the most time accumulated at the end is declared the winner. (See A game with a purpose .)

A game with purpose

The Nurse Life board game reinforces time management strategies and helps nurses place individual completed nursing tasks into the larger context of optimized patient care. Players lose time when they land on individual tasks and gain time when they pass the blue time management strategy circles.

The authors encourage others to adapt this game for their own use ( download a PDF ).  

Throughout the game, new graduates are encouraged to think critically about how tasks fit into a larger picture and how essential they are to comprehensive care. After completing the game, the small groups reconvene into the larger group for reflective debriefing. Using peer support, the new grad­u­ates discuss their current time management strategies, including best practices and areas for development. A conversation led by the facilitator (a nurse educator who’s a member of the nursing professional development education team) encourages re-evaluating current practices and opportunities for incorporating newly learned time management strategies into clinical practice. The discussion fosters an understanding of which clinical tasks require a greater expenditure of time and how time management strategies can improve patient outcomes, enhance care delivery, and allow for meaningful connections with patients.

At the end of each residency program session, nurses complete a voluntary electronic evaluation, rating content using a Likert scale. In March 2020, feedback from 434 participants indicated that 97% (421) strongly agreed or agreed that time management strategies can be applied and incorporated into daily practice. These findings demonstrate that the board game approach positively contributes to new nurses’ understanding of the importance of integrating the time management strategies learned in the course into clinical practice.

Keep playing

The Nurse Life board game, combined with reflection and peer support, encourages new graduate nurses to explore the connections between nursing activities and time management strategies. Although the game was designed for use with new graduates, it can be customized for use in a variety of onboarding and ongoing staff development opportunities.      AN

Robin Hackett and Veronica Bigott are system nursing professional development specialists at Advocate Aurora Health in Downers Grove, Illinois.

Benner P. From novice to expert. Am J Nurs. 1982;82(3):402-7.

Blevins S, Millen EA. Foundation for new graduate nurse success. Medsurg Nurs. 2016;25(3):194-5. doi:10.1097/NND.0000000000000226

Leis SJ, Anderson A. Time management strategies for new nurses. Am J Nurs. 2020;120(12):63-6. doi:10.1097/01.NAJ.0000724260.01363.a3

Nayak SG. Time management in nursing—Hour of need. Int J Caring Sci. 2018;11(3):1997-2000.

Pabst PK. Don’t shortcut patient safety. Nurs Made Incred Easy. 2013;(11)6:6-9. doi:10.1097/01.NME.0000430830.75944.46

Said NB. Time management in nursing work. Int J Caring Sci. 2014;7(3):746-9.

Texas Health and Human Services. Time management module. hhs.texas.gov/sites/default/files/documents/doing-business-with-hhs/provider-portal/QMP/TimeManagementModule.pdf

9 Comments . Leave new

Hello I want to incorporate this game into our nurse residency program and have a few logistical questions about the game; would someone be able to reach out to me at [email protected] ? Thank you very much!

Hello, I am trying to use this game for our new nurse orientation skills class. I have several questions in regard to how to create the game board and the timecards, etc. Could someone please contact me via email [email protected] . Thank you so much!

What does the spinner look like? I am trying to figure out how to do this with a nursing student group

I am also wondering what a spinner would look like- is it acting like dice? Could dice be used instead? How are time “points” awarded? Do the students have to discuss how they would implement the time management strategy to earn time back? How does the charge nurse calculate what to award back in time?

Hi Chelesa, dice can be used if that works better for your activity; please feel free to customize to the needs of your learner. Nurses are awarded time/points when they pass over a blue time management strategy circle; when that occurs, nurses are awards 30 minutes.

Hi Chelsea, dice can be used for the activity; please feel free to customize to meet the needs of your learners. Nurses receive 30 minutes of time/points when they pass a blue time management strategy circle.

Hello, I have the same question as above. Does each player receive timecards equaling 720 minutes? Or is it one stack of 720-minute timecards distributed to the group? Thank you

Thank you for reaching out! Each player receives timecards equaling 720 minutes.

Do each player receive time cards equaling 720 min. thank you?

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Home — Essay Samples — Business — Time Management — The Importance of Time Management for Nursing Students

The Importance of Time Management for Nursing Students

• Categories: Nursing Scholarship Time Management

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Published: Apr 17, 2023

Words: 1022 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, impact of time management, conclusions.

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Nurses and managers’ time management skills assessment: a national survey in the italian healthcare setting.

1. Introduction

• Strategies for Effective Time Management in Nursing

2.1. Study Design

2.2. participants, 2.3. variables and measurement, 2.4. ethical considerations, 2.5. questionnaire, 2.6. data collection, 2.7. statistical analysis, 3.1. time management, 3.2. participants well-being, 3.3. ability to delegate, 4. discussion.

• Challenges in Time Management
• Strategies for Effective Time Management
• Impact on Patient Care and Nurse Well-Being

5. Limitations

• Implications: Education and Training

6. Conclusions

Supplementary materials, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, public involvement statement, guidelines and standards statement, use of artificial intelligence, conflicts of interest.

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Filomeno, L.; Chaoui, Y.; Scinicariello, A.; Minciullo, A.; Di Mario, S. Nurses and Managers’ Time Management Skills Assessment: A National Survey in the Italian Healthcare Setting. Nurs. Rep. 2024 , 14 , 2107-2116. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep14030157

Filomeno L, Chaoui Y, Scinicariello A, Minciullo A, Di Mario S. Nurses and Managers’ Time Management Skills Assessment: A National Survey in the Italian Healthcare Setting. Nursing Reports . 2024; 14(3):2107-2116. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep14030157

Filomeno, Lucia, Yassin Chaoui, Antonietta Scinicariello, Andrea Minciullo, and Sofia Di Mario. 2024. "Nurses and Managers’ Time Management Skills Assessment: A National Survey in the Italian Healthcare Setting" Nursing Reports 14, no. 3: 2107-2116. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep14030157

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Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Role and contribution of the nurse in caring for patients with palliative care needs: A scoping review

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Milford Care Centre, Castletroy, Limerick, Ireland

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Resources, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

Affiliation Board Member, PSPA Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project administration, Resources, Validation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Department of Nursing and Midwifery, Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

• Sue Moran, 
• Maria E. Bailey, 

• Published: August 23, 2024
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307188
• Reader Comments

The provision of high-quality palliative care is important to nursing practice. However, caring for palliative care patients and their families is challenging within a complex everchanging health environment. Nonetheless the caring, artistic role of the nurse is fundamental to the care of the patient and family. However, this role is currently being overshadowed by the technical and scientific elements of nursing.

A scoping review was conducted utilising Arksey and O’Malley’s framework to identify the role and contribution of nurses in caring for patients with palliative care needs. An open time period search of eight electronic databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane Library) was conducted on the 8 th of March 2023 and updated on the 30 th of April 2024. Screening was performed independently by two reviewers against eligibility criteria with meetings between authors to discuss included papers and form a consensus. Data was extracted relating to palliative care nursing, methodology, key findings, and recommendations. The analysed and summarised data was mapped onto Oldland et al seven domains framework: (a) medical/nursing and technical competence, (b) person centred care, (c) positive interpersonal behaviours, (d) clinical leadership and governance, (e) promotion of safety, (f) management of the environment, and (g) evidence-based practice.

Fifty-five papers met the criteria for this review which describes the role and contribution of nurses in caring for palliative patients across all domains of professional practice. The review found the leading areas of nurse contribution were person centred, interpersonal and nursing care aspects, with leadership, managing the environment, patient safety and evidence-based practice evident but scoring lower. The contribution of the nurse in palliative care supports a biopsychosocial-educational approach to addressing the physical, emotional and social needs of patients with palliative care needs and their families across the care continuum.

Nurses in palliative care engage in a wide range of roles and responsibilities in caring for patients and their families with palliative care needs. However, there remains minimal evidence on the assessment, intervention, and evaluation strategies used by nurses to highlight the importance of their role in caring for patients and their families in this area. The findings of this review suggest that the artistic element of nursing care is being diluted and further research with a focus on evidencing the professional competence and artistic role of the nurse in the provision of palliative care is required. In addition, research is recommended that will highlight the impact of this care on patient and family care outcomes and experiences.

Citation: Moran S, Bailey ME, Doody O (2024) Role and contribution of the nurse in caring for patients with palliative care needs: A scoping review. PLoS ONE 19(8): e0307188. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307188

Editor: Tim Luckett, University of Technology Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Received: August 16, 2023; Accepted: July 1, 2024; Published: August 23, 2024

Copyright: © 2024 Moran et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting information files and the DOI's are provided for all materials that informed the results of this paper. https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Palliative_care_-_role_and_contribution_of_the_nurse/23968647 .

Funding: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists.

Competing interests: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

Palliative care describes a specific approach/philosophy to patient care and is defined by the WHO as “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients (adults and children) and their families who are facing problems associated with life threating illness, prevents and relieves suffering through the early identification, correct assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, whether physical, psychosocial or spiritual” [ 1 ].This definition is reflective of several iterations that were revised over the years to reflect current thinking, practice and person-centred approaches, holistic assessment, and accessibility for all. In line with advances in palliative care, palliative nursing and medicine has developed as specialist areas of practice. Their origins stem from the work and philosophy of Cicily Saunders (1918–2005) founder of the modern hospice movement who argued “to provide quality care at the end-of-life we need to bring scientific knowledge and artistic skills to the bedside, we need to combine the art and science of palliative care, we should learn not only how to free patients from pain and distress, but also how to be silent, how to listen, and how just to be there” (p:8) [ 2 ].

From a nursing perspective palliative nursing is described as: “a combination of knowledge, skills and compassion in equal measure, which is sensitive, hopeful, meaningful and dynamic, above all it is a way of thinking and an attitude of mind that should influence a nurse’s behaviour whenever they work with a dying person in whatever setting” (p.8) [ 3 ]. For the purposes of this paper, we have considered the provision of palliative nursing in the following settings: specialist palliative care and non-specialist settings in the hospital and community (practice nursing; district nursing and nursing homes). Evident within the literature, is that nursing values place patient care at the core of nursing and argue that recurring values of kindness, dignity, commitment, and competency are fundamental to palliative nursing care [ 4 , 5 ]. Nursing values are viewed as important, worthwhile, and worth striving for [ 6 ] and the unique role that nurses play in palliative care is evolving significantly as an “art” of nursing with nursing skills based on compassion, empathy and genuine kindness which are equated with equal measure to that of the science of nursing [ 7 ]. Nursing values are part of the nursing profession providing a framework which guides the nurse’s goals, behaviours, and actions [ 5 ]. This acknowledgement has led to a revisioning of nursing values in the 21 st century for example in the UK the 6C’s (care, compassion, courage, communication, commitment and competence) [ 8 ], in Ireland the 3C’s (care compassion, commitment) [ 9 ] and in Taiwan these values are stated to be humanistic caring, professionally competent holistic care, fostering growth, experiencing the give and take in caring, fair compensation, health promotion [ 10 ]. Caring for individuals with palliative care needs is an integral role of nurses. However, in more recent year’s significant changes in technology and medical advances have altered the disease trajectory and symptom management for patients, consequently changing the parameters for quality palliative care nursing [ 11 ]. This raises the question as to how nursing will maintain a balance between the art and science of nursing.

While advances in medicine, pain management, radiological and drug interventions are important and have a clear role in care provision they can also add to the complexity of care within a palliative philosophy [ 12 ]. The impact of this phenomena has significance not only for the patient but also for nurses, who are being taken away from the beside and the sensitive, caring, art of nursing [ 3 ]. The absence of the nurse at the bedside can lead to the caring aspects of, being with, being present and generally spending time with patients and families being overlooked or undervalued [ 7 ]. Given that these are important aspects of care a tension is created in current practice [ 3 ]. These developments have impacted on the role of the nurse in palliative care and leads the authors to question the role and contribution of palliative care nursing. In so doing, it is acknowledged that palliative care has continued to develop both as a concept and as a service and such growth inevitably brings changes and such changes present both opportunities and challenges for nursing. Considering the future of palliative nursing, Watts et al [ 13 ] note that nurses need to maintain their core nursing values while advancing their knowledge to encompass, clinical practice, education and research so that they can support patients and their families who are living longer with complex issues while allowing the patient to live with the best possible quality of life until they die [ 13 , 14 ]. The role of the nurse has long been poorly understood and understated [ 15 ]. It is imperative therefore that nurses identify clearly what it is they do and how the numerous elements of their complex role benefits patients and families. In so doing the unseen/hidden elements of nursing care are made visible and valued. Following on and building on Moran et al’s [ 16 ] work which identified the values of palliative care nursing this paper aims to describe the role and contribution of nurses providing palliative care to inform future practice in the delivery of palliative nursing, research, education, and nursing policy development.

Due to the broad multifaceted nature of palliative care and palliative care nursing, a scoping review methodology was chosen to present a broad synthesis and mapping of the available literature centred on the review question and not limited by study quality or design [ 17 ] to identify the current body of knowledge and existing gaps in the literature [ 18 ]. Through the systematic synthesis of the evidence a rigorous map of the findings is presented [ 19 ]. To present the extent and nature of the literature, identify gaps and make recommendations Arksey and O’Malley framework [ 17 ] incorporating updates by Levac et al [ 20 ] and Bradbury-Jones et al [ 19 ] was adopted. A five-step process was utilised: i) identifying the research question, ii) identifying relevant studies, iii) study choice, iv) plotting the data, and v) arranging, summarising and communicating the outcomes. This was an interactive method where each step was revisited and advanced throughout the process [ 21 ].

Identification of research question

The review addresses the following question: ‘what is the role and contribution of nurses in caring for patients with palliative care needs’.

In addition, this review reports identified gaps in the current evidence and makes recommendations for future research as per the PAGER framework [ 19 ]. To address the review question, the review team utilised the Oldland et al framework [ 22 ] to map the evidence onto the seven domains of professional practice: (a) medical/nursing and technical competence, (b) person centred care, (c) positive interpersonal behaviours, (d) clinical leadership and governance, (e) promotion of safety, (f) management of the environment, and (g) evidence-based practice along with the elements within each domain.

Identification of relevant studies

To encompass the broad scope of palliative care literature, a wide range of keywords were used as search terms [ 17 ]. A search strategy and inclusion criteria guided the review (Tables 1 and 2 ) and the search was conducted across eight databases MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Academic Search Complete, PsycINFO, EMBASE, Web of Science, Scopus and Cochrane Library ( https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/Palliative_care_-_role_and_contribution_of_the_nurse/23968647 ). The search was conducted on 8th March 2023 and updated on the 30 th April 2024 (OD) after the search strings were developed and agreed upon by the review team. The search words were used in ‘title’ and ‘abstract’ searches utilising Boolean operators ‘OR’ and search strings were combined using Boolean operators ‘AND’. All citations were exported to Endnote Library 2021 (Clarivate Analytics, Pennsylvania, USA) for duplicates to be identified and removed (OD, MB).

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307188.t001

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Study selection

The original search generated 11,941 papers, and after the removal of duplicates (n = 4,920), 7,021 papers moved forward to title and abstract review. Screening was conducted independently within Rayyan (Qatar Computing Research Institute) by three reviewers (OD, MB, SM) against the inclusion criteria ( Table 2 ). Following title and abstract screening, 6,893 papers were excluded, and the remaining 128 papers went forward to full-text review. The full text of the 128 papers was retrieved and screened by paired reviewers working independently (OD, MB, SM). Any disagreement or differences between reviewers were discussed with the third reviewer, and agreement was reached. Excluded reasons were recorded and reported ( Fig 1 ) and 53 papers met the criteria for this review. The search update revealed 1127 results with 290 duplicates and 832 removed at title and abstract screening. This left 5 for full-text screening with 3 papers excluded and 2 papers meeting the criteria for this review ( Fig 1 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307188.g001

Mapping/Plotting of data

The data were mapped onto the framework of professional practice by Oldland et al [ 22 ]. All data pertaining to the work and contribution of palliative care nurses were extracted from each paper that met the inclusion criteria. All data extracted were coded by holding a team meeting to map all codes onto the elements and domains within Oldland et al [ 22 ] framework ( S1 File ). In total 776 items were coded onto 47 elements across the seven domains ( S1 File ). Within the coding process, it became apparent that data could span across more than one code, and to agree the coding, the review team meeting was essential to form a consensus. The coding decision process was guided by the original aim and context of the study from which the data were extracted rather than taking the highlighted data in isolation. All data extracted were synthesised and summarised using a data extraction tool agreed upon by the reviewers ( S2 File ).

Arranging, summarising and communicating the outcomes

The final stage summarises and communicates the findings [ 17 ], where data were mapped onto the seven domains of Oldland et al [ 22 ] professional practice framework and conveyed through narrative in-text and tables [ 23 ]. This review is reported following the PRISMA flow diagram [ 24 ] ( Fig 1 ) and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) checklist [ 25 ] ( S3 File ).

The search of the databases generated 55 papers which met the inclusion criteria. The reasons for exclusion of papers (n = 78) are reported in the PRISMA flow diagram ( Fig 1 ). The results present the characteristics of the studies and the results of the data coding which is presented below in accordance with each domain from Oldland et al [ 22 ] framework (elements and domains). The domains are presented in numerical order to assist with the key aim of the scoping review: to map and make recommendations. Within each of the domains the individual elements from Oldland framework are also presented in terms of frequency representation of the occurrence of the element which is identified by its number of coded occurrence (n =) and to enable tracking to its source publication this is acknowledged by [reference/s]. It is acknowledged that an element may appear in a paper more than once ( S1 File ).

Characteristics of the studies

The characteristics of the studies ( Table 3 ) within this review spanned across twenty countries and were overwhelmingly qualitative, with only five out of the fifty-three studies being quantitative or mixed methods. The sample sizes of the quantitative studies ranged from 107 to 717 participants, while the mixed methods studies sample size ranged from 19 to 74, and qualitative studies sample size ranged from 1 to 129.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307188.t003

Person centred care

Person centred care was described using thirteen of the fourteen elements the element not evident was equitable and accessible healthcare. For the elements evident partnership with clients and families (n = 63) [ 26 – 61 ] focused on the provision of support, education, training and advice to patients and families. Fundamental within the partnership was communication, knowing each other (nurse/patient/family), being there, being available, the focus on creating a bond and positive memories, and preparing the person and family. Engaging authentically (n = 63) [ 27 – 29 , 31 , 33 – 36 , 39 – 41 , 43 , 45 , 46 , 48 , 51 – 53 , 58 , 59 , 61 – 69 ] consisted of the caring relationship between the nurse and the patient and family. Key to authentic engagement was building a relationship, respecting individuality, being non-judgemental, trust, being present, listening, spending time with the person, and utilising everyday encounters to connect with the person and family. Provision of holistic care (n = 44) [ 30 , 31 , 34 – 36 , 40 , 41 , 43 , 46 , 49 , 51 , 53 , 57 , 58 , 60 , 62 , 64 – 67 , 69 – 72 ] addressed the nurses’ approach to holistic and individualised care.

This holistic approach was beyond the physical aspect of care and encompassed social, spiritual, and emotional aspects such being supportive, addressing emotional concerns, providing reassurance, offering advice and care after death, attending to the dying patients and family’s needs, dealing with practical concerns, being holistic, and supporting the family say farewell. Empathy and care (n = 24) [ 26 , 35 – 39 , 41 , 47 , 49 – 51 , 55 , 58 , 66 – 69 , 73 , 74 ] addressed being available, facilitating expression of emotions (patient and family), being empathic, supporting the person and family, being caring, listening and understanding the person’s experience, slowing down (unhurried care), making memories, protecting patient from unnecessary suffering, recognising patient being alone, and holding and being comfortable with uncertainty. Recognition of client preferences (n = 22) [ 26 , 27 , 29 , 31 , 37 – 39 , 45 , 47 , 51 , 54 , 67 , 68 , 72 , 75 , 76 ] involved meeting expectations, fulfilling the wishes of the patient, valuing the patient’s uniqueness, going at the patient’s pace, reducing distance between patient and family, helping patients to stay at home and creating an environment so patients can live as full as possible.

Ensuring spiritual well-being (n = 22) [ 27 , 31 , 35 – 37 , 39 , 41 , 46 , 48 , 51 , 53 , 57 , 61 , 70 , 74 ] while this is an element of holistic care, this was specifically referred to in the papers. It addressed the nurses’ awareness, sensitivity and understanding of spirituality, supporting the person to say goodbye, ensuring the patient is at peace, preserving hope and meaning, making sense of suffering, providing emotional comfort, involving community in supporting dying patients, and providing pre and post bereavement care. Promoting and respecting informed decision-making (n = 12) [ 26 , 35 – 37 , 40 , 46 , 57 , 58 , 68 , 69 ] addressed getting to know the patient wishes, involving the patient in decision making, participating in advanced care planning, respecting patient choice and individuality, negotiating choices, and facilitating breakthroughs and acceptance. Patient/client advocacy (n = 10) [ 31 , 33 , 40 , 42 , 45 , 52 , 56 , 67 , 73 , 77 ] focused on nurses’ advocating for patients wishes, choices, and goals of care. Maintaining dignity, privacy, and confidentiality (n = 10) [ 26 , 34 , 39 , 41 , 67 , 68 ] highlights nurses’ fostering respect, privacy, dignity, and autonomy, giving time and space, providing unhurried gentle care, demonstrating respect for the body and the appearance of the families loved one. Independence/empowerment (n = 9) [ 27 , 35 – 37 , 48 , 62 , 65 ] addressed activities that supported promoting the independence and empowerment of the person so that they could achieve greater autonomy within their care decisions.

Cultural knowledge and sensitivity (n = 8) [ 30 , 57 , 58 , 60 , 68 , 76 ] focused on nurses being culturally aware and sensitive, supporting religious beliefs and dealing with different cultural beliefs about hospice and dying. Open disclosure (n = 6) [ 31 , 36 , 48 , 53 , 68 ] addressed being open and honesty, being realistic, addressing misconceptions, letting the family know that death is approaching, and acknowledging death. Awareness of health literacy (n = 1) [ 43 ] focused on providing instruction regarding caregiver’s health.

Positive interpersonal behaviours

Positive interpersonal behaviours were described using thirteen of the fourteen elements the element not evident was mutual performance monitoring. For the elements evident ownership/accountability/role responsibility (n = 53) [ 27 , 31 , 34 – 36 , 38 , 40 , 50 , 51 , 54 , 59 , 60 , 63 – 65 , 67 , 69 , 72 , 73 , 75 ] focused on philosophy of care and dying, valuing work and self, supporting others, preserving own integrity, accepting death, dealing with emotions, recognising limitations, caring for self, managing stress, avoiding being overwhelmed, balancing guilt and compassion, utilising time effectively, and recognising risks within the therapeutic relationship, personal and professional boundaries.

Effective communication (n = 29) [ 27 – 30 , 32 , 35 – 37 , 43 , 46 , 55 , 57 , 58 , 61 , 65 , 66 , 68 , 69 , 71 , 75 , 77 – 79 ] addressed advanced communication skills, communicating across complex levels (patient, family, professions), active listening, providing information, assessing information needs, providing honest information communicated sensitively, and having difficult conversations. Emotional intelligence and relational empathy (n = 32) [ 27 , 34 – 36 , 38 , 45 , 58 , 60 , 65 , 66 , 71 , 74 , 76 , 79 ] focused on providing a positive experience of being caring for, getting to know the family, understanding the patient’s narrative, developing a reciprocal relationship, spending time with the patient, being present, responding to anger, seeing things through the patient’s eyes and sharing secrets. Team leadership/climate teamwork orientation (n = 21) [ 29 – 32 , 34 – 36 , 46 , 50 , 52 , 58 , 63 – 65 ] addressed teamwork, information sharing, care sharing, clarity of team member roles, challenging treatment approaches, pushing for a decision, responding to colleagues, and discussions with the team regarding options. Adaptability (n = 16) [ 26 , 28 , 32 , 35 , 36 , 38 , 51 , 56 , 59 , 67 , 68 , 71 , 79 ] addressed the flexibility and responsiveness of the nurse and their ability to embrace challenges, having multiple tasks, roles, and responsibilities. However, there is ambiguity in roles, and in the acute setting, nurses are frequently pulled in different directions due to a lack of role clarity and crossover of roles. This results in the nurse having to explain their role and professional boundaries regarding their responsibility for caring for the gravely ill/dying patient. Collaboration (n = 16) [ 31 , 32 , 45 , 51 , 55 , 58 , 63 , 69 , 72 , 75 , 77 – 79 ] addressed collaborative working and liaising with others in the provision of care. This included the patient, family and healthcare team, the nurse fulfils a networking and resource role in providing information, supporting, and coordinating care. Professionalism (n = 12) [ 31 , 35 , 36 , 38 , 41 , 45 , 47 , 51 , 65 , 69 ] addressed the professional manner of the nurse, being prepared, their professional approach, being dedicated and committed to caring, palliative care and supporting the dying person, their passion for nursing as a caring profession, establishing credentials and personal integrity. Conflict resolution (n-11) [ 35 – 37 , 41 , 46 , 65 , 68 , 73 ] focused on resolving family and contextual conflict, diffusing and mending relationships. Reflective practice (n = 8) [ 35 , 36 , 40 , 50 , 69 , 72 ] addressed nurses exploring their thoughts on caring, learning from experience, examining feelings and emotions, and acknowledging one’s reactions. Mutual support (n = 5) [ 35 , 36 , 57 ] focused on creating opportunities for staff and residents in nursing homes to visit dying patient to say goodbye and valuing each person experience, feelings, and knowledge. Being ethical (n = 4) [ 26 , 35 , 36 , 39 , 45 , 55 , 57 ] addressed being honest, dealing with ethical dilemmas, being ethical, ethical competence, and doing the right thing. Situation assessment and advocacy (n = 3) [ 35 , 36 , 43 ] addressed adapting an approach according to family dynamic and focusing on living. Life-long learning (n = 1) [ 80 ] focused on ongoing learning.

Medical/Nursing and technical competence

Medical/nursing and technical competence were described using two of the three elements the element not evident was health informatics proficiency. The first element, psychomotor skill/discipline and context-specific knowledge (n = 116) [ 26 – 28 , 31 – 39 , 41 – 47 , 49 – 53 , 55 , 57 – 63 , 66 – 70 , 72 – 75 , 77 – 80 ] addressed areas of assessment, planning/designing, implementation, and evaluation of care. Evident within psychomotor skill/discipline and context-specific knowledge were clinical, physical, social, emotional, and technical aspects of nursing care within a biopsychosocial approach.

Additionally, key aspects of observation, knowing the person, creating a plan of care based on specialised knowledge, intuition, and understanding were fundamental to supporting and preparing the person and their family on their journey. The second element, critical thinking and problem solving (n = 28) [ 27 – 29 , 34 , 37 , 38 , 43 , 45 , 49 , 50 , 54 – 56 , 59 , 60 , 67 , 69 , 71 , 72 , 75 , 78 , 79 ] focused on the nurses’ ability to adapt and respond to patient needs, changing needs, complex needs, decision-making, and problem solving. Nurses addressed challenges through dialogue, intuition and knowing the patient.

Clinical leadership and governance

Clinical leadership and governance were described using all nine elements. Unit based/direct care, strategic leadership, and clinical co-ordination (n = 36) [ 30 – 33 , 35 , 36 , 41 , 45 – 47 , 55 , 58 , 59 , 63 , 69 , 73 , 75 , 78 ] portrayed the leadership and liaison role of the nurse in care co-ordination within and across services. Here nurses engage in leadership by taking charge, making arrangements, referring to others, negotiating transfers, networking, utilising resources, and putting into place e.g., medication, equipment and consultation. This demonstrates the professional and central role of the nurse operating on many levels in ensuring efficient transition of patients and discharge planning. Supervision and education of other health professionals (n = 17) [ 31 – 33 , 41 – 43 , 48 , 52 , 55 , 57 , 69 , 73 ] described the provision of education, teaching and training to nurses and healthcare members, supporting the development and competence of others, supporting transitioning to the work area, and providing leadership. Mentorship (n = 10) [ 31 , 42 , 43 , 49 , 55 , 60 , 73 ] highlighted the role of the nurse in guiding, supporting and mentoring fellow nurses and healthcare team members to improve care at end-of-life. There was a pedagogical underpinning here, moving between counselling and education and moving away from hands-on to consultation and support. Professional development (n = 7) [ 31 , 43 , 63 , 80 ] involved activities that influenced professional practice through engaging in personal and professional development, training, and education to support developing one’s experience and support professional standards. Audit/policy/guidelines/service plan (n = 2) [ 39 , 69 ] related to policy adherence and uphold policy and procedures. System knowledge (n = 2) [ 30 , 32 ] related to resource identification and management and navigating the health care system to mobilise supportive resources. Mobilising others (n = 2) [ 45 , 57 ] addressed building a community and mobilising action and others. Initiation, monitoring and participation in quality improvement strategies (n = 1) [ 75 ] aligning to improving practice through quality improvements. Research activity (n = 1) [ 73 ] referred to data collection for research.

Management of the environment

Activities related to management of the environment were described using all five elements. Patient and family comfort (n = 21) [ 26 , 28 , 31 , 33 , 34 , 39 , 41 , 47 , 48 , 53 , 62 , 67 , 70 , 71 ] addressed providing relief, comfort, and security, avoiding suffering, adapting and adjusting the care environment, managing psychological concerns, creating a less technical atmosphere and an atmosphere of normality, and supporting the presence of the family at bedside of dying person. Patient privacy (n = 3) [ 47 , 53 , 62 ] highlighted how the nurse creates an environment that is different from the hospital, promotes an appropriate location for end-of-life, and preparing room for death.

Noise minimization (n = 2) [ 34 , 62 ] highlighted how the nurse works to create a calm environment and minimise noise. Appropriate lighting (n = 1) [ 34 ] highlighted how nurses adjust lighting to be more subdued to promote comfort. Clean and tidy environment (n = 1) [ 39 ] highlight how the nurse works with the physical space and the ward environment to promote comfort as best they can.

Promotion of safety

Promotion of safety was described using three of the nine elements. The six elements not evident were error reporting, infection prevention, medication safety, safety procedures and compliance, safety culture promotion and personal safety awareness. For the elements evident understanding human and environmental factors that mitigate harm (n = 19) [ 27 – 29 , 39 , 41 , 43 , 47 , 49 – 51 , 59 , 62 , 73 , 76 , 79 ] described balancing the demands of the role and enabling a feeling of being safe and secure. Recognition and response to adverse events including clinical deterioration (n = 2) [ 27 , 33 ] recognised the busy workplace and the demands this may pose and supporting the patient and family following a lane change (curative to palliative care). Risk identification and management (n = 1) [ 28 ] addressed being involved early in the person palliative care journey.

Evidence-based practice

Evidence-based practice was only described in one of the seven elements within this domain. The element evident was knowledge translation [ 51 ] which focused on the delivery of the best possible care based on evidence. The six elements absent were: formulation of clinical questions, critical appraisal and synthesis of evidence, evidence development and generation, evidence dissemination, evaluation of evidence-based decisions and practices, and understanding research and statistical terms and methods.

This scoping review draws together the research literature on the role and contribution of nurses in caring for patients and families with palliative care needs. This discussion addresses each domain evident within this review in the context of the wider literature.

Domain one, person centred care clearly captured the essence of palliative care highlighting the aspects of being present and sharing the journey. Relationship is key to the nursing care process (relational care) and connection is key to the relationship, with this connection developing through the therapeutic and professional use of self and the principles of empathy, trust, genuineness and congruence [ 81 ]. However, fundamental to building this relationship is the requirement of time and availability of the nurse. Evidencing these invisible core nursing functions will be critical to the continuing development of the artistic role of the nurse. Bramely and Mattti [ 82 ] report that patients expect nurses to have time for them and to listen to them however, nurses reported that a busy ward environment meant time was a precious commodity in care and compassion and when time does not exist it impacts on caring [ 50 ]. Nurses who are seen to make time for their patients are reported as being compassionate however, if a patient must wait for care due to time pressures, care is considered to be less compassionate. Several international studies in the early days of palliative care nursing; Reiman [ 83 ], Lawler [ 84 ] and Taylor [ 40 ] indicate that nurses valued relationships with patients i.e., building trust; advocacy, being there, being with.

However, within this domain the element of equitable and accessible healthcare was not evident in the literature, this may be because most papers originated from countries with established palliative care services, but it is essential that this element is taken into consideration in further research to highlight inequities, underserved populations and marginalised persons.

Domain two, positive interpersonal behaviours clearly captured the professional, collaborative and partnership working of nurses in providing palliative care that is holistic, responsive to the person, empathic and inclusive of the person and their family in care provision and decisions. However, within this domain the element of mutual performance monitoring was not evident but may be implied in the teamwork and communications elements coded. Sensitive nursing behaviours reflect a combination of attitude and nursing behaviours for example presence, listening, responding, being there, sitting at the patient’s bedside, not standing over the patient, touching the patient, timely care, holding someone’s hand, smiling at the patient, hands on clinical care i.e., washing and dressing. These action behaviours would be accompanied by compassionate behaviours including, respect, valuing, showing warmth, presence, paying attention, understanding, empathising. Kwon et al [ 72 ] described careful listening to patient and family needs; responding to patients in a manner that is suitable to their condition, quickly responding to patient problems and providing a moment to say farewell. Perry [ 4 ], while noting how nurses’ express compassion in attending to the ordinary but essential needs of their patients, recommends that the clinical environment should be designed to foster such behaviours. Nurses’ behaviours could be described as the art of what they do and how they do it. This lies within Carper’s ways of knowing [ 85 ] and results in the art and science of nursing. Often it is the minute details of how it looks in practice and how nurses describe their own role that is missing in discussion and/or recorded nursing documentation [ 86 , 87 ].

Domain three, medical/nursing and technical competence highlights developments in modern medicine, with new treatments effecting life expectancy. There is an increasing complexity of the illness trajectory [ 88 ] which is coupled with balancing treatment choices within a palliative approach. The medical/nursing and technical competence domain clearly demonstrates the specific nursing skills, nursing knowledge, creative thinking and problem-solving ability of nurses. Nurses in this review described this challenge as ‘changing lanes’ and noted the time required to work with the medical team to reassess, replan and communicate with patients and families. This was evident in both acute settings as patients transitioned from active treatment, aimed to prolong life, to palliative care and then within palliative care to end-of-life care. It is important that in maintaining the balance between monitoring the physical response to the disease and the psychosocial/spiritual aspects of care that time is afforded to the nurse to work with patients and families who are transitioning between care approaches. This is in keeping with Robinson et al [ 89 ] who noted that nurses are uniquely placed to support patients due to their advanced clinical skills and knowledge within a holistic nursing model of care. Part of this process is to develop and enhance nursing behaviours so nurses can “think and link” when delivering patient care through verbal and non-verbal behaviours [ 90 ].

Through this process nurses understanding, anticipating, and responding to patient care is scientifically evidenced based but also can recognise the intuitive art of nursing. This is important as the artistic nature of nursing is not always seen and therefore acknowledged and may now become visible through this process [ 90 , 91 ]. Critical to the identification of artistic nursing behaviours in palliative care is the recognition that they are processes within actions rather than outcomes and that these processes dramatically influence and shape care provision and patient and family care experiences. Nurses in clinical practice need to capture these processes not only in nursing documentation [ 16 ] but also within the organisational vision and ethos. The element of health informatics proficiency was not evident within this domain and this this need to be considered as this would address the skills, knowledge, and ability to evaluate the opportunities and limitations of health care technology and their impact on safety and quality of health care delivery, taking cognisance of the social, legal, ethical, and technical issues and ensuring compliance with the standards and regulations.

Domain four, clinical leadership and governance represented and highlighted the care coordination, mentoring, supervision, and leadership of the nurse in quality care provision. This domain may have scored low as these skills are not easily measured. Leadership within palliative nursing is grounded on qualities and leadership extends through all nursing roles. Leadership in palliative care is characterised by leading others with a clear vision of palliative care, motivating others to achieve quality care, positively relating to others, creating a healthy environment and working collaboratively in palliative care [ 92 ]. Nurses also possess the ability to respond to change through anticipating future care needs [ 93 ]. Care coordination can have a negative impact on family members due to the lack of clarity and ambiguity of roles resulting in family members feeling responsible for and overburdened by care coordination [ 94 ]. The relational and care coordination aspect of the nurse role helps off set this where the nurse builds a relationship with families and involves them in the care of their loved one. Care coordination brings to the fore some of the core principles of nursing, such as person centredness and advocacy [ 95 ] and ensuring the patient is in the centre rather than the system in the centre [ 96 ]. It could be argued that the art and science of palliative care nursing is particularly vulnerable to being eroded by a reductionist approach to patient care. For example, Costello [ 97 ] suggested that the art of nursing in palliative care and the time and availability of the nurse for key nursing skills such as communication based on compassion, empathy and genuine kindness are less evidenced and are being challenged by the increasing pace of busy units. This is in keeping with the findings of Moran et al [ 16 ] which highlights the challenges of time and availability to be with the patient. This emphasises that the artistic nursing skills have not only to be valued by the nurse themselves but also by nursing managers, leaders, and healthcare professionals within the care team. Nursing leadership needs to claim and value the artistic elements of nursing, support its inclusion, and showcase its outcomes.

Domain five, management of the environment may have been low in representation however all elements were evident, and consideration needs to be given to the possibility that data was only coded onto one element when in fact it may have been represented in more than one element and the decision to code was based on the context of the paper and the data originated from. The influence of the care environment is known to effect patients’ overall well-being [ 98 ] an environment that provides opportunities for social interaction and privacy are important elements of care [ 99 ].

Domain six, evidence of the promotion of safety was low with only twenty-two codes and three elements represented. This highlights the absence of the six elements of Oldland et al framework [ 22 ] specifically error reporting, infection prevention, medication safety, safety procedures and compliance, safety culture promotion and personal safety awareness. The reason for this omission may lie in the amount of time these activities take up, and while it is disappointing these activities were not evident the lack of observational studies may be a factor. The recent pandemic may draw attention to infection control and safety issues resulting in future publications, and regulation can address compliance, reporting and safety issues such as in Ireland for example national standards are being met such as restrictive practice [ 100 ] and medication administration and management [ 101 ].

Domain seven, evidence-based practice appeared to be lacking as only one of the seven elements were evident. However, this may be due to the scoping nature of the paper and the mapping of code onto a single element and domain. While it could be argued that evidence underpins practice there was no evidence of six elements within this domain which highlights an opportunity to address this gap in the literature in future studies and make these elements explicit in research pertaining to nursing in palliative care. There is a need for palliative care nursing research and for nurses to be involved in research teams. Such involvement can be in the conduct, collection, analysis, or interpretation of data. However, there is a need to develop nurses’ confidence in research, provide time within their role for research and create nursing research posts specific to palliative care nursing. The six elements absent from this domain were formulation of clinical questions, critical appraisal and synthesis of evidence, evidence development and generation, evidence dissemination, evaluation of evidence-based decisions and practices and understanding research and statistical terms and methods This highlights the importance not only for research but also in clinical practice, where there is an opportunity for nurses in palliative care to seize this opportunity and bridge this evidence gap through practice-based publications and research studies. Nurses need to be actively engaged in patient end-of-life research in both the conduct and dissemination of such research.

Davies and Oberle [ 36 ] described a model for a supportive nursing role in palliative care which consisted of valuing; connecting; empowering; doing for; finding meaning and preserving own integrity. These researchers proposed that the concept of support is complex and that the nature of support in nursing is poorly defined. This view continues to have value today. Revisions of the Davies and Oberle model [ 36 ] across the decades upholds the fundamental nursing roles with just two additional elements; influencing other professionals and displaying expertise Newton and McVicar [ 27 ]. The knowledge skills and attitude of the nurse are underpinned by the nursing values, care, compassion, and commitment. Throughout this review sensitive nursing behaviours are evident across all seven domains. Critical to the identification of artistic nursing behaviours in palliative care is the recognition that they are processes within actions rather than outcomes and that these processes dramatically influence and shape care provision and patient and family care experiences. Nurses in clinical practice need to capture these processes in nursing documentation but also within the organisational vision and ethos [ 16 ].

The findings of this review are in keeping with Sekse et al [ 102 ] and demonstrate that time is a precious and scarce commodity. The scientific workload has increased in the field of palliative care creating a ‘push me—pull you’ challenge for the nurse supporting patients with palliative care needs. The complex disease trajectory and advances in treatment has additional implications for communication skills and time. The role of the nurse is complex and difficult to clarify and, as it is often unseen work, it is frequently undervalued. Invisible care is challenging to describe and document [ 103 ] and further research in this area is required, however, from this review it is apparent that the nurse holds a key role in the support of patients with palliative care needs. Overall, Oldland’s framework [ 22 ] consisting of the seven domains and various elements can guide practice development, nursing documentation and research into the future. Palliative care nursing could adapt the framework and identify elements relevant to palliative care nursing that are essential but missing from Oldland’s framework. In this way palliative care nursing could look at developing nursing sensitive metrics rather than learning by trial and error and this could form the basis of education and a model for practice that would have transferability to caring for palliative care patients and their families in different care environments. Thereby, palliative care nurses can demonstrate their ability to verbalise their actions to inform and enhance the mastery of clinical practice [ 104 , 105 ]. Here there is an opportunity for nursing to lead, create and innovate within its own discipline and capture the essence of caring for the human condition.

Recommendations

Based on the insights provided in the scoping review regarding the role and contribution of nurses in caring for patients and families with palliative care needs, several recommendations can be made for research, education, and policy development. Further research is required to explore the nuances of person-centred care in palliative nursing, particularly focusing on the impact of time availability on nurse-patient relationships and the provision of compassionate care. Explore the integration of evidence-based practice principles into palliative care nursing, addressing gaps in areas such as clinical question formulation, critical appraisal of evidence, and evidence dissemination. Educational programmes need to enhance nurses’ skills in providing person centred care, emphasising the importance of empathy, trust, and genuineness in nurse-patient relationships. Education using for example role modelling on sensitive nursing behaviours, such as active listening, timely care, and compassionate communication needs to be integrated and embedded into nursing curricula and practice. Policies should prioritise nurse-patient ratios and workload management to ensure adequate time for compassionate care delivery in palliative settings. Initiatives aimed at recognising and valuing the artistic elements of nursing, including compassionate communication and empathetic care, within organisational cultures and policies need to be supported.

Limitations

While this review used precise and transparent methods based on study and reporting guidelines by Arksey and O’Malley [ 17 ] no quality appraisal was conducted as the focus of this review was to map the evidence. Thus, this paper only offers a descriptive account of available information. There was no patient and public involvement, and there are opportunities for engagement, potentially following published guidance on stakeholder involvement in systematic reviews [ 23 ]. Additionally, papers in this review were limited to databases which may have affected representativeness. The authors recognise that the evidence presented in the review is limited to the published literature regarding role and contribution of nurses in caring for patients with palliative care needs, and thereby the findings are limited to the scope and nature of the specific research question within each paper. Furthermore, the authors recognise that much of nursing care which is documented does not form part of research papers.

Conclusions

This scoping review illustrates the evidence of the role and contribution of the nurse in caring for patients with palliative care needs and highlights that nurses embrace the core values of palliative care nursing while caring for the person and the family. However, in a scientific and technical era, it is essential to value and report the often unseen and underreported artistic and intuitive actions within nursing practice. This creates an opportunity for palliative care nursing to bridge this gap in future nursing documentation, research studies, and publications. For this to occur, nurse leaders need to actively promote nursing in the areas of holistic care, education, and research. Fundamental to this process is the adoption or adaptation of a framework such as Oldman’s to highlight the domains and elements to guide practice development, nursing documentation and research. By addressing the research, education, and policy recommendations, stakeholders can work towards enhancing the role of nurses in palliative care, improving patient outcomes, and ensuring compassionate and equitable care for individuals and families facing end-of-life needs.

Supporting information

S1 file. data coding onto oldland’s framework..

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307188.s001

S2 File. Data extraction table.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307188.s002

S3 File. PRISMA reporting guideline for scoping review.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0307188.s003

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