Non-Value-Added Time

Abstract

The dual crises of high healthcare costs and the nursing shortage require a better understanding of inpatient nursing unit activities and, more specifically, their costs and the drivers of inefficiencies. This includes knowing not only how staff spend their time but also how much of this time is non-value-added (NVA) because wasted time leads to both high costs and nurse dissatisfaction. The authors discuss a study that determined the NVA time and costs of acute care nursing unit staff, identified drivers of high-cost NVA time, and compared activities and costs by type of nursing unit. These data have considerable implications for developing efficient and effective nursing care delivery models and for implementing process improvement and staff satisfaction initiatives.

Nurses’ needs for care robots in integrated nursing care services

“…Such activities are categorized as "nonvalue-added (NVA) nursing activities", that are unnecessary processes of direct and indirect nursing activities and do not directly affect patient outcomes and compromise nursing productivity (Kim & Park, 2011 related, support and record system requirements (Choi, Yang, & Baek, 2011). Such wasted time brought about both high costs and nurse dissatisfaction (Storfjell, Ohlson, Omoike, Fitzpatrick, & Wetasin, 2009). In one report on general wards (where INCS were not yet in place), the NVA workload accounted for 16% of all nursing work (Kim & Park, 2011).…”

Examining Emergency Department Treatment Processes in Severe Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury

“…In healthcare, NVAT can be considered wasted time that is consumed with rework and delay that could have been avoided if the process worked ideally (Storfjell et al, 2009). Others have considered NVAT as the non-operational times in a treatment process that is spent dealing with defects, errors, and waiting (James & Bayley, 2008).…”

Untitled

“…Therefore, much emphasis is placed on increasing the time for care through strategies that eliminate waste and enhance efficiency. Thus, nursing activities have been classified as value-added (direct and indirect care), necessary (documentation), and non-value-added or waste (hunting for and gathering supplies) (Storfjell, Ohlson, Omoike, Fitzpatrick, & Wetasin, 2009;Thompson, Johnston, & Spur, 2009;Upenieks, Akhavan, & Kotlerman, 2008). Advocates of this approach encourage transformations in workflows and care processes that shift nursing time toward value-added activities and away from activities in the other categories (Storfjell et al, 2009;Upenieks et al, 2008).…”