Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Nurses get more time with patients under pilot programme

Updated at 6:43 pm on 20 August 2010

Introducing lean business-thinking to health is giving nurses more time with patients, according to hospital managers.

They say it has been achieved through the rollout of a programme known as "The Productive Ward: Time to Care" at district health boards.

The programme, adopted from the United Kingdom, gives nurses the opportunity to think about how wards are run and to re-arrange things to encourage efficiency and boost safety.

It has seen rationalisation of stock, including bandages and dressings, as well as linen at Waikato DHB.

Auckland's Middlemore Hospital says the programme has freed up 90 minutes of every nurse's shift and means the Emergency Department is calmer and more streamlined, with patients no longer needing to be on trolleys in corridors.

At Wellington Hospital, ward managers say they are using equipment better and communicating more effectively with patients.

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