Demonstration of sizing nursing staff methods in intensive care
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/1518-8345.7184.4411Keywords:
Personnel Downsizing , Workload, Nursing Team, Intensive Care Units, Nursing Staff Hospital , Critical CareAbstract
Objective: to demonstrate the sizing of intensive care nursing staff estimated by two calculations, using the Nursing Activities Score as one of its central components. Method: descriptive, retrospective study that compiled the Nursing Activities Score scores of patients in five Intensive Care Units of a hospital in southern Brazil. Two calculations were used to size the nursing staff. In addition to other components, calculation I converted the Nursing Activities Score into minutes and hours; and calculation II used this score on a denominator corresponding to one nursing professional/day, considering two types of work shifts. In both equations, the proportion of 52% of nurses was respected. Results: in the 9,610 evaluations, the mean of Nursing Activities Score was 85.9% (80.8% to 96.4%). While calculation I estimated 164 professionals, calculation II projected 176 and 140 workers for five and four shifts, respectively. The difference in nurses between the methods was 18 professionals. Conclusion: the choice of the calculation and the number of work shifts substantially interfere in the estimation of intensive care nursing staff. This may support a methodological review in the standardization of nursing sizing in this area.
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