The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze tasks performed by nurses at inpatient units in a large general hospital in Brasilia, Federal District, which also functions as a training hospital. A quantitative, exploratory, descriptive study was carried out and involved a total of 612 hours of direct observation of the activities performed by 18 nurses at the General Medicine, Surgical, Pediatric and Maternity units. The tasks observed were classified as: administration, nursing care delivery, education and related to information system. Nurses dedicate a large part of their time to administrative tasks, followed by tasks related to nursing care delivery and information system, performing almost no educative tasks.
nurses; nurse's role; nursing care
