Nurses’ Burden of Elimination Care: Sequential Explanatory Mixed-Methods Design

Background: Inpatients commonly experience problems with elimination due to incontinence, urinary retentions, and complications with indwelling catheters. Although elimination care (EC) is an important nursing area, few studies explore the burden of EC on nurses. Aim: To identify the burden on EC by analyzing nurses' opinions using sequential explanatory mixed method. Methods: This research was conducted using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design. A total of 59 nurses at a tertiary hospital in South Korea participated in the study from January 1 to March 31, 2022. For quantitative analysis, information about number of delays of work due to EC, required time for serving bedpan or diaper changes, percentage of EC per shift, and percentage of patients who need EC was collected through a survey. For qualitative analysis, focus group interviews were conducted to identify factors that put a burden on EC. Important themes were derived by analyzing nurses' opinions on EC. Results: For nurses in intensive care units, general wards, and integrated nursing care wards, the number of work delays due to EC was 3.6 [+ or -] 1.5, 2.3 [+ or -] 1.2, and 4.8 [+ or -] 2.4 (p