Time Study RN | OVERVIEW
It all began with “Transforming Care At The Bedside”…
Time study for nurses: a growing need
The TCAB initiative was formed because of an observed trend that technology, new unit design, and new nursing processes were causing the nurse to spend less time at the bedside – impacting patient care, quality, and outcomes. At the same time, LEAN and Six Sigma success stories in manufacturing were catching the attention of healthcare organizations globally.
Taking action, RWJ funded a pilot project at 3 hospitals to use emerging LEAN and Six Sigma methods to address the problem of reduced caregiver time at the bedside with the ultimate goal of improving patient care, quality, and outcomes.

Measuring the Impact of Change
In 2002, the RWJ/IHI/AONE team turned to Rapid Modeling Corporation to develop a methodology to measure caregiver time at the bedside and to support the broad range of continuous improvement opportunities in the nursing environment. Working with the nursing teams in the pilot phase of TCAB, Time Study RN was developed to measure how and where caregivers spend their time. Since 2002, Time Study RN has evolved through 9 new software releases to become the only standardized tool to measure the impact of change on the quality and capacity of the care giving team.
CIT: Care, Innovation, & Transformation
CIT’s foundation is grounded in the basic tenets of TCAB, but further supports the nurse leader in driving innovation, culture change, and health care reform implementation. This initiative teaches nursing and interdisciplinary teams how to innovate and measure change, strengthening the organization from the bottom-up.
The Time Study RN National Benchmarking Database

Unit Assessment
The Unit Assessment Report allows users to identify areas of nursing practice that are inefficient when compared to other similar hospital units.

Collaboration Report
The Collaboration Report provides an anonymous communication portal to communicate with top-performing units.

Run Charts
Run Charts are provided for all metrics so users can measure the impact of their change efforts on caregiver workload and then monitor and sustain their improvements over time.
For information about Time Study RN contact Nelson E. Lee – Ph. (513) 624-6629; Em. nlee@timestudyrn.com