British nurses drowning in sea of paperwork: Survey

Nurses in the UK are "drowning in a sea of paperwork" with more than one-sixth of the working week consumed by doing non-essential paperwork, according to a survey.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) poll of 6,000 nurses found 17.3 per cent of their hours were spent on tasks such as filing, photocopying and ordering supplies.
Most reported the amount of paperwork was getting worse and was now stopping them providing direct patient care, the BBC reported on the eve of the start of the RCN's annual conference tomorrow.
The British government has said it wants to reduce bureaucracy by a third.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has already announced a review of bureaucracy, which is being carried out by the National Health Service Confederation and is due to report back in the coming months.
NHS Confederation chief executive Mike Farrar said: "We recognise very much the survey and we are concerned about it. I think it's critical that we make sure our staff have got the maximum amount of time to be with our patients.

"We're still doing far too much on paper, far too much duplication and it really is taking away the time nurses could have with patients," Farrar said.

The union said its survey showed a culture of "ticking boxes" had developed.
The survey also found more than a quarter of nurses said their workplace did not have a ward clerk or administrative assistant to help with clerical duties.
RCN general secretary Peter Carter said: "These figures prove what a shocking amount of a nurse's time is being wasted on unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy.
"Yes, some paperwork is essential and nurses will continue to do this, but patients want their nurses by their bedside, not ticking boxes."
The union's Janet Davies said: "Ordering supplies and ordering food is a terrible waste of a nurse's salary and nursing skills when actually you could have an admin assistant doing that routine work.