Public Health Nurses' Time Allocation in Local Government Nursing Settings: A Self‐Reported Prospective Time Study.
Aim: To clarify how public health nurses allocate their time across various tasks and compare time‐use patterns between prefectural and municipal public health nurses in Japan, where distinct administrative mandates define their roles. Design: A self‐reported, prospective time study. Methods: Public...
| Published in: | Journal of Advanced Nursing (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) Vol. 82; no. 6; pp. 6244 - 6264 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Jun2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=193815303&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 193815303 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 03092402 LVDY jtl: Journal of Advanced Nursing (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) issn: 03092402 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jun2026 vid: 82 iid: 6 pid: 52269 pub: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. artinfo: ui: 193815303 188749183 193815303 193815303 10.1111/jan.70314 193815303 ppf: 6244 ppct: 20 formats: tig: atl: Public Health Nurses' Time Allocation in Local Government Nursing Settings: A Self‐Reported Prospective Time Study. aug: au: Yoshioka‐Maeda, Kyoko Matsumoto, Hiroshige Honda, Chikako Taira, Kazuya Hosoya, Noriko Sato, Miki Iwasaki‐Motegi, Riho Sumikawa, Yuka Fujii, Hitoshi Miura, Takahiro Shiomi, Misa affil: Department of Community Health Nursing/Public Health Nursing, Division of Health Sciences & Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan sug: subj: Public Health Nurses Psychosocial Factors Time Management Local Government Nurse Attitudes Evaluation Nursing Administration Nursing Role Evaluation Nursing Practice, Evidence-Based Human Male Female Funding Source Self Report Prospective Studies Workload Personnel Staffing and Scheduling Work Environment Job Characteristics Documentation Home Nursing Rural Nursing Telenursing Organizational Efficiency Nursing Practice Stress, Occupational Questionnaires Japan Nursing Models, Theoretical Linear Regression Health Screening Collaboration Interprofessional Relations Business Travel Nurse Administrators Psychosocial Factors Workforce Task Performance and Analysis Multicenter Studies Communication Descriptive Statistics Chi Square Test Kruskal-Wallis Test One-Way Analysis of Variance Regression Data Analysis Software Interviews Snowball Sample Nonexperimental Studies Male Female ab: Aim: To clarify how public health nurses allocate their time across various tasks and compare time‐use patterns between prefectural and municipal public health nurses in Japan, where distinct administrative mandates define their roles. Design: A self‐reported, prospective time study. Methods: Public health nurses from two municipalities and one prefecture recorded their daily practices and time allocations using Kintone. Time allocation differences by administrative level and job position were analysed using linear mixed‐effects models. Results: Overall, 121 participants contributed 9502 person‐days of data. Participants spent an average of 463.6 min/workday on work‐related activities. Municipal public health nurses dedicated more time to application paperwork (64.0 min), health examinations (57.6 min), and individual coordination (48.3 min). Prefectural public health nurses allocated more time to business management and organisational operations (69.0 min) and traveliing, particularly in rural contexts. Managers spent less time on direct care and more on administrative tasks. Conclusion: This study provides the first quantitative, self‐reported evidence of task distribution among public health nurses across administrative levels and positions. The findings reflect structural differences in role expectations and underscore the need to reallocate workloads to better align with each level's mandate. Implications for the Profession: Task prioritisation, information and communication technology tool integration, and administrative support are essential in optimising public health nurses' contributions to community health. These strategies can reduce non‐clinical workload and enable public health nurses to focus on high‐impact, value‐added public health services that promote health equity. Impact: This study closes a longstanding gap by quantifying PHNs' time allocation, revealing the hidden burden of administrative work, and providing critical insights for workforce planning and sustainable public health service delivery. Reporting Method: This study adhered to the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology guideline. Patient or Public Contribution: No Patient or Public Involvement. Trial Registration: UMIN Clinical Trials Registry; UMIN000051509 (https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi‐open‐bin/ctr/ctr%5fhis%5flist.cgi?recptno=R000058761; August 1, 2023) pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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