本研究為調查性研究設計，目的為探討某醫學中心護理人員延遲下班的情況與相關因素。以擁有2900張床的某醫學中心護理人員為母群體，抽樣17個內科病房與15個外科病房的護理人員為調查對象，經設計的結構式調查表，自2005年6月至10月分二段期間計二十天收集護理人員上班期間工作內容紀錄與延遲下班情況紀錄，以及病房動態紀錄，調查對象總計1012人次，工作日誌紀錄總計2732筆資料，病房動態資料計640筆。經研究結果顯示(1)45%當班護理人員有延遲下班的現象發生，且延遲時間為66~83分鐘；(2)白、晚班延遲下班的主因是「當日工作量超過平常」、「病人異動大」與「病人病情突有變化」，而夜班則以「晨會或參加在職教育」為首要原因；(3)護理人員延遲下班時主要是在寫護理紀錄位居首要；(4)依護理人員延遲下班的比率與時間，推估護理人力短絀約20人；(5)於內外科病房工作之護理人員延遲下班分別與其當班時照顧病人數與醫療照護處置業務量的多寡、病房當日實施緊急救命心肺甦醒術，以及接受化學治療的病人數有相關性與差異性。本研究結果可提供護理主管作為護理人力配置與護理作業流程改善的參考。

The research results showed: (1) 45% of the nursing staff worked overtime, and the average delay time were 66~83 minutes; (2)The major reasons for overtime were high amount of workload changes in, patients' conditions, and rapid patients' turnover rate in the day and evening shifts, as well as morning meeting delays in the night shift; (3)Most nursing staff wrote nursing records during the overtime period. (4) Based on the percentage and overtime duration, it was estimated that the nurses' shortage was about 20 employees; (5)Extended work hours of nursing staffs were significantly relative to patient-nurse ratio, the number of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation(CPR) and the procedure of chemotherapy during the shift. This research results would be valuable to human resource allocation and work process reengineering in the nursing management aspect. This was a survey study in order to explore the extended work hours of staff nurses and their relative factors in a medical center. The study was conducted in a 2900-bed medical center and study cases were recruited by randomized method, selecting the registered nurses who worked in 17 surgical units and 15 medicine units. Structured questionnaires were used including duty logbook, overtime record, and unit record. The data were collected in June and October 2005. Data analysis was based on 2732 logbooks and 640 unit records.