Introduction: Work contexts can affect nurses’ work and work outcomes. Work context factors of nurses, patients, or workflow can modulate nurses’ organization of work and determine increased workloads. Aim: The aim of this research was to analyze relationships between factors regarding the patient, the nurse, workflow, and nurses’ work organization, to investigate whether work organization is related to physical, mental, and emotional workloads, and to explore whether one dimension of workload influences the other dimensions. Methods: We used a cross-sectional design based on the Job Demand-Resources theory. We asked registered nurses, working in nine medical-surgical wards across three hospitals in Italy, to self-report on work organization and workloads regarding randomized shifts over three consecutive weeks. Four scales from the QEEW 2.0 questionnaire were used on an online survey for data collection. multivariable linear regressions with structural equation modelling were tested. The study was approved by the three local Ethics Committees. Results: We received 334 questionnaires regarding 125 shifts worked. Patient complexity (β = 0.347), patient specialties (β = 0.127), adequacy of staffing (β = −0.204), collaboration with colleagues (β = −0.155), unscheduled activities (β = 0.213), supply search (β = 0.141), and documentation (β = 0.221) significantly influenced nurses’ work organization. Nurses’ work organization was significantly related to physical, mental, and emotional nursing workloads. Conclusions: the patient, the nurse, and workflow aspects influence nurses’ work organization and workloads. Healthcare organizations, managers, and nurses should explore work settings to identify work turbulences early and implement strategies to improve nursing work conditions and workloads.

Background/Objectives: Nursing workforce shortages and increasing care complexity have intensified the need to understand how registered nurses allocate their working time and whether nursing expertise is used where it adds the greatest clinical value. This study empirically measured the distribution, frequency, and duration of observed nursing activities and examined differences across participating hospitals and medical–surgical units in Italy. Methods: A multicentre observational study was conducted across 13 medical and surgical units in five Italian teaching hospitals. Registered nurses were observed during complete morning and afternoon shifts over a three-week period. Activities were classified as direct care, indirect care, organisational activities, or non-patient care. Time allocation, activity frequency, and duration were examined across units and hospitals. The Enacted Scope of Practice model, Role Theory, and Job Demands–Resources Theory informed interpretation of the findings but were not used to classify individual activities. Results: Overall, 45% of cumulative recorded activity time was devoted to direct care, 24% to indirect care, 10% to organisational activities, and 21% to non-patient care. Direct care accounted for 51% of recorded activity time in medical units and 41% in surgical units, whereas indirect care represented 17% and 28%, respectively. Considerable hospital-level variability was observed, particularly for indirect, organisational, and non-patient care activities. Direct care was also the most frequent activity category, while organisational activities were less frequent but comparatively time-intensive. Conclusions: Nursing work extends substantially beyond bedside care and includes clinically relevant indirect and organisational activities. Interpreted through the Enacted Scope of Practice framework, the findings identify areas requiring further competency-based evaluations to support work redesigning that protects activities requiring registered nursing expertise, redistributes appropriate tasks, and reduces avoidable organisational inefficiencies.