New medication administration systems are showing
promise in improving patient safety at the point of
care, but adoption of these systems requires significant
changes in nursing workflow. To prepare for
these changes, the authors report on a time-motion
study that measured the proportion of time that
nurses spend on various patient care activities,
focusing on medication administrationYrelated
activities. Implications of their findings are discussed.
Technology is increasingly being used at the patient
bedside to improve patient safety and streamline
clinicians’ work. A thorough understanding of the
scope of nurses’ workflow in the inpatient environment
is critical to the successful integration of any
bedside technology. Although bedside technology