The Nurse’s Juggling Act: How Much Multitasking is Too Much?

It seems inevitable in today’s hectic health care environment that nurses attempt to tackle more than one task at once, but by doing so they may increase stress and put their patients at risk.

Joanne Goldbort, Ph.D., RN, director of maternal and child services at Union Hospital Health Group in Terre Haute, Ind.,  says that when a nurse tries to do too much at once in a hospital setting, ” it begins to interfere with patient safety.”

Bartholomew, RN, RC, MN, an author, nurse consultant and practicing nurse in Seattle,  cautioned nurses not to try to improve their multitasking or sequential-tasking skills, but rather to stop the practice. She also recommend delegating tasks to nursing assistants rather than the nurse trying to do everything. The most important thing is that nurses should try to  stay in the present, and not think about future tasks when doing current one.

“If you are in the ‘here and now,’ the likelihood of making mistakes decreases, because you are paying attention to the task at hand,” Bartholomew said. “The best thing anyone can do is to live in the moment.”

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