2. TIME MANAGEMENT
• Time is an important resource although in
many cases it is not thought as such.
• The demand of time as a manager and a health
care provider fall in to three categories;
Tasks that have to be done- these relate key
responsibilities e.g. clinical administration.
Tasks that other people pressurize one into
doing- some of these are very important and
must be done while others are done because
one does not want to say no.
3. Cont..
• Tasks that are done because one wants to do-
these are usually ones choice and include that
someone else can do as well e.g. Attending a
nurses’ association meeting
4. Time waster
• This is something that prevent a person from
accomplishing a job or achieving a goal. Some
of the common time wasters include;
Interruptions such as telephone calls and drop-
in visitors.
Lack of clear cut goals, objectives and priorities.
Meetings both scheduled and unscheduled
Lack of daily or weekly plans
Lack of self discipline
6. Time saving
• Have an objective in all activities
• Effective communication
• Have a plan or schedule for all activities in an
organization
• Learn to delegate
• Plan for visitors and meetings
• Learn self discipline.
7. Principles of time management
• Goal setting; the nurse manager sets both
organizational and personal goals. The goals
may be short term or long term and provide a
direction and vision for actions as well as time
frame in which activities will be accomplished
• Time analysis; the manager should conduct a
survey of how she/he spend a day. Reviewing
the daily schedule and keeping it accurate may
demonstrate how time is used.
8. Cont..
• Priority setting; the nurse manager identifies
time frame for achievement of goals. The ‘to-
do’ list should be prioritized by classifying
activities as 1 for urgent,2 for not urgent but
important and 3 for less important.
• Delegating; the nurse manager may delegate
a number of activities.
9. Cont..
• Controlling interruptions; the nurse manager
should identify causes of interruption and
plan to reduce them by incorporating some of
these interruptions into planned and
scheduled activities.
10. Pareto principle (80/20 rule)
• The goal of Pareto analysis is to help one
prioritize tasks.
• To manage time well, know tasks that are:
Important but not urgent e.g. replying to a mail
Urgent but not important
Urgent and important
