Available online 6 April 2024, 151791

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Nurses frequently perform Non-Nursing Tasks (NNTs), impacting effective care.

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Causes include staff shortages, resource limitations, and nursing administration weaknesses.

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NNTs affect nursing care, health, efficiency, and productivity.

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The study emphasizes the need for strategies to address NNTs.

AbstractAim

To investigate the perceptions of Jordanian nurses regarding Non-Nursing Tasks (NNTs) and their consequences, as well as the underlying factors that contribute to the occurrence of NNTs.

Background

Nurses play a crucial role in providing high-quality patient care, but they often engage in NNTs, which can hinder their ability to deliver care effectively. Western countries have primarily conducted research on NNTs, while Middle Eastern countries such as Jordan have received limited attention. Expanding our understanding of NNTs is essential for improving nursing care.

Methods

A qualitative-exploratory approach was adopted. The research was conducted at three hospitals in Amman, Jordan. A purposeful sampling approach was used to select the participant and a focus group-interview method was used to gather the data. The derived data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach.

Results

The final sample of this study included 38 participants. The findings highlighted that nurses often perform NNTs due to staff shortages and limited resources, as well as weaknesses in nursing administration and education. The finding also highlights the consequences of NNTs on nurses' professional lives, including impaired nursing care, physical and mental health strain, and a lack of efficiency and productivity.

Conclusions

The present study's results provide valuable insights into the impact of NNTs on nurses in Jordan. These findings underscore the need for healthcare stakeholders to actively address the issue of NNTs. It also emphasized the need for more explicit job descriptions and processes, along with support for nurses to fulfilling their responsibilities and prioritizing patient care.

Section snippetsBackground

Nurses are essential in providing high-quality patient care, which involves evaluating patients, formulating individualized care plans, and providing holistic care (Hosseini et al., 2023). However, they often engage in tasks beyond their designated scope, such as managing administrative paperwork, coordinating patient appointments, and performing housekeeping duties, such as tidying patient areas or restocking supplies (Fulton et al., 2019). These tasks are classified as non-nursing tasks

Design

A qualitative-exploratory approach was adopted in this study. The lack of precise NNT definitions in the Jordanian context as well as the novelty of the research in evaluating NNTs in Jordan heavily influenced this methodological choice. This approach provides rich, detailed information and a comprehensive understanding of the social phenomenon being studied, as qualitative research aims to understand the fundamental causes, motives, and reasons behind an event (Queirós et al., 2017).

Settings

The study

Participants' characteristics

The results of the study provide insights into the demographic characteristics and distribution of participants across various variables. Firstly, regarding gender distribution, the majority of participants were male, accounting for 57.9 % of the total sample, while females represented 42.1 %. This indicates a slightly higher representation of males in the study population. In terms of age, the average age of participants was 32.1 years, with a standard deviation of 5.9 years. This suggests

Discussion

This study represents a unique qualitative investigation into the perspectives of nurses on NNTs. Most research on this topic was conducted in Western countries (Grosso et al., 2019; Liu et al., 2021). Therefore, this study provides valuable insights into the underlying factors contributing to NNTs within the context of Jordanian nurses. The derived findings offer a deeper understanding of elements of NNTs in Jordan, potentially applicable to countries with comparable circumstances. The

Recommendations

The study suggests that healthcare stakeholders should allocate resources to address staff shortages and ensure nurses have the necessary support to focus on their clinical duties. This could involve optimizing nurse-to-patient ratios and investing in staffing levels that allow nurses to prioritize direct patient care over non-NNTs. Policymakers should consider legislative measures to regulate nurse workload and limit non-nursing responsibilities assigned to nurses. Quality improvement

Conclusion

The study reveals that staff shortages and resource allocation issues often cause NNTs. Nurses often face NNTs due to insufficient support, impacting their well-being, job satisfaction, and professional development. This directly affects the efficiency and productivity of nurses, leaving them with less time and energy for patient-centric care. Thus, addressing NNTs can potentially mitigate these negative repercussions.

Strengths and Limitations.

Utilizing focus groups and semi-structured

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and publication of this article.

Contribution

All authors had the major input into the design, analysis and interpretation of the data, as well as drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content. All authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board at Applied Science Private University.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Ayman Abed Aldarawsheh: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Software, Resources, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization. Ahmad Saifan: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Supervision, Software, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Conceptualization. Murad Adnan Sawalha: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft. Enas A. Assaf: Writing – review & editing, Writing – original draft, Conceptualization.

Uncited reference

Abd El-Hamid, Abd El-Wahab BD and Aly, 2019

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Acknowledgements

The authors are very thankful to all of the nurses for their participation in the study. This study is supported via funding from Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University project number (PSAU/2023/R/1445).

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