Premium
How EverCare Nurse Practitioners Spend Their Time
Author(s) -
Kane Robert L.,
Flood Shan,
Keckhafer Gail,
Rockwood Todd
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1046/j.1532-5415.2001.4911249.x
Subject(s) - medicine , nursing , nursing homes , nurse practitioners , family medicine , health care , economics , economic growth
OBJECTIVES: To describe how nurse practitioners (NPs) employed by EverCare, a Medicare HMO serving exclusively nursing home residents, spend their working days.DESIGN: A descriptive study based on structured self‐reports. SETTING: Nursing homes. PARTICIPANTS: Seventeen NPs employed by EverCare in five sites. MEASUREMENTS: Self‐reports of time spent over a 2‐week period and specific reports of how time was spent on selected cases. RESULTS: NPs spend about 35% of their working day on direct patient care and another 26% in indirect care activities. Of the latter, 46% of the time was spent interacting with nursing home staff, 26% with family, and 15% with the physicians. The mean time spent on a given patient per day was 42 minutes (median 30); of this time 20 minutes was direct care (median 15). CONCLUSIONS: NPs' activities are varied. Much of their time is spent communicating with vital parties, an important function that supports the physicians' primary care role and should enhance families' satisfaction with care. J Am Geriatr Soc 49:1530–1534, 2001.