Deutsches Ärzteblatt International | Dtsch Arztebl Int 2017; 114: 705-11 16. Bee PE, Richards DA, Loftus SJ, et al.: Mapping nursing activity in acute inpatient mental healthcare settings. J Ment Health 2006; 15: 217-26. KEY MESSAGES• Inpatient care accounted for 53% of physicians' work-time. A total of 34% was spent on outpatient care and 13% on other activities, e.g., waiting, moving from place to place, and breaks.• Overall, 46% of working time on the wards in the participating departments was spent in direct contact with patients (e.g., rounds, operations, obtaining blood samples).• One third of inpatient work-time was occupied by indirect care, i.e., work in connection with particular patients but not in their presence (e.g., treatment documentation, discharge letters).• The departments of ophthalmology, dermatology, gynecology, pediatrics, oral and maxillofacial surgery, orthopedics and trauma surgery, and psychiatry and psychotherapy of the Medical Center-University of Freiburg took part in the study.• The knowledge that they were taking part in a study may have altered the physicians' behavior.