Nursing Activities Score and workload in the intensive care unit of a university hospital.

OBJECTIVE: The nursing workload consists of the time spent by the nursing staff to perform the activities for which they are responsible, whether directly or indirectly related to patient care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the nursing workload in an adult intensive care unit at a university hospital using the Nursing Activities Score (NAS) instrument. METHODS: A longitudinal, prospective study that involved the patients admitted to the intensive care unit of a university hospital between March and December 2008. The data were collected daily to calculate the NAS, the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II), the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) and the Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS-28) of patients until they left the adult intensive care unit or after 90 days of hospitalization. The level of significance was set at 5%. RESULTS: In total, 437 patients were evaluated, which resulted in an NAS of 74.4%. The type of admission, length of stay in the intensive care unit and the patients' condition when leaving the intensive care unit and hospital were variables associated with differences in the nursing workload. There was a moderate correlation between the mean NAS and APACHE II severity score (r=0.329), the mean organic dysfunction SOFA score (r=0.506) and the mean TISS-28 score (r=0.600). CONCLUSION: We observed a high nursing workload in this study. These results can assist in planning the size of the staff required. The workload was influenced by clinical characteristics, including an increased workload required for emergency surgical patients and patients who died.

Nursing Activities Score e carga de trabalho em unidade de terapia intensiva de hospital universitário / Nursing Activities Score and workload in the intensive care unit of a university hospital

Objetivo: A carga de trabalho de enfermagem é constituída pelo tempo dispendido pela equipe de enfermagem para realizar as atividades de sua responsabilidade, relacionadas direta ou indiretamente ao atendimento do paciente. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a carga de trabalho de enfermagem em uma unidade de terapia intensiva adulto de hospital universitário com o uso do instrumento Nursing Activities Score (NAS). Métodos: Estudo longitudinal, prospectivo, envolvendo pacientes admitidos na unidade de terapia intensiva de um hospital universitário no período de março a dezembro de 2008. Foram coletados dados para o cálculo do NAS, do Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II), do Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) e do Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS-28), diariamente até a saída da unidade de terapia intensiva adulto ou 90 dias de internação. O nível de significância adotado foi de 5%. Resultados: Foram avaliados 437 pacientes, resultando em NAS de 74,4%. O tipo de internação, tempo de permanência na unidade de terapia intensiva e condição de saída do paciente da unidade de terapia intensiva e do hospital foram variáveis associadas a diferenças na carga de trabalho da enfermagem. Houve correlação moderada do NAS médio com o escore de gravidade APACHE II (r=0,329), com o escore de disfunção orgânica SOFA médio (r=0,506) e com o TISS-28 médio (r=0,600). Conclusão: Encontramos elevada carga de trabalho de enfermagem no estudo. Esse resultado pode subsidiar planejamento para dimensionamento da equipe. A carga de trabalho sofreu influência de caraterísticas clínicas, sendo observado aumento do trabalho nos pacientes cirúrgicos de urgência e nos não sobreviventes. .

Objective: The nursing workload consists of the time spent by the nursing staff to perform the activities for which they are responsible, whether directly or indirectly related to patient care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the nursing workload in an adult intensive care unit at a university hospital using the Nursing Activities Score (NAS) instrument. Methods: A longitudinal, prospective study that involved the patients admitted to the intensive care unit of a university hospital between March and December 2008. The data were collected daily to calculate the NAS, the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II), the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) and the Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS-28) of patients until they left the adult intensive care unit or after 90 days of hospitalization. The level of significance was set at 5%. Results: In total, 437 patients were evaluated, which resulted in an NAS of 74.4%. The type of admission, length of stay in the intensive care unit and the patients' condition when leaving the intensive care unit and hospital were variables associated with differences in the nursing workload. There was a moderate correlation between the mean NAS and APACHE II severity score (r=0.329), the mean organic dysfunction SOFA score (r=0.506) and the mean TISS-28 score (r=0.600). Conclusion: We observed a high nursing workload in this study. These results can assist in planning the size of the staff required. The workload was influenced by clinical characteristics, including an increased workload required for emergency surgical patients and patients who died. .