Introduction To date, ‘non-nursing tasks’ are regarded as activities falling in the scope of practice of other staff
since they do not require nursing knowledge and skills. These activities account for between 35% and 62% of
other staff since they do not require nursing knowledge and skills. These activities account for between 35% and
62% of nurses' working time, resulting in negative outcomes for patients, professionals and organizations. Despite
the growing debate at national and international level, it turns out not to be well-known which strategies nurses
implement in their daily routine to avoid or limit such activities. The aim of this study is (a) to quantify the
phenomenon of 'non-nursing tasks' and (b) to describe the strategies implemented by nurses to prevent and/or
limit their occurrence.
Methods The Board of Nursing Professions of Belluno, Italy, performed a descriptive study involving nurses from
the province (n=1987). The population consisted of nurses active at the time of the study. Eligible nurses (n=1331)
were administered the questionnaire elaborated in the qualitative phase of the APRI project asking if they had
implemented strategies to avoid or limit 'non-nursing tasks', which strategies they had implemented and what was
their perceived effectiveness.
Results 743 nurses (55.8%) responded, declaring they performed on a daily basis 'non-nursing tasks' (693,
94.5%) to which they devoted an average of one third of their work shifts (average 32.6%, CI 95% 31.4-33.7%).
To avoid/limit this, the nurses reported that they had had a peer-review of the work organization (445; 60.7%);
performed overtime (438; 59.7%); discussed possible solutions in groups (437; 59.6%); refused to perform (435;
59.3%) or documented the performance of 'non-nursing tasks' (424; 57.8%). The perceived effectiveness of these
strategies was however ranked as poor (average from 1.68 to 2.21 on a Likert scale from 1 [not at all] to 4 [very
much]).
Conclusions At least one third of nurses' working time is devoted to 'non-nursing tasks'. This further exacerbates
the shortage of nursing care the patients need. About half of the nurses implement direct and indirect strategies
to prevent/limit the phenomenon of 'non-nursing' activities, however reporting a perceived poor effectiveness.
