Table 2

Distribution of task times, multitasking and interruption rates

Task categoryNumber of tasks (%)Task time (hours)Mean task time (s)% task time spent multitasking (95% CI)Interruption rate per hour, (95% CI)
Direct care1102 (21.1)34.611242.8 (26.3 to 59.3)4.4 (3.8 to 5.1)
Indirect care1221 (23.4)28.88520.0 (5.4 to 34.6)6.0 (5.2 to 6.9)
Documentation224 (4.3)3.86112.6 (0 to 46)8.4 (6.1 to 11.5)
In transit814 (15.6)7.3329.9 (0 to 31.6)10.3 (8.3 to 12.5)
Professional communication1478 (28.3)17.74342.2 (19.2 to 65.2)3.5 (2.7 to 4.4)
Social196 (3.7)12.02207.2 (0 to 21.8)1.4 (0.9 to 2.2)
Supervision or education162 (3.1)9.220441.6 (9.8 to 73.5)4.6 (3.4 to 6.0)
Administrative30 (0.6)3.23847.8 (0 to 37.2)4.7 (2.9 to 7.5)
  • Task times do not add to 100 hours because some tasks were undertaken simultaneously (ie, when multitasking).