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Measuring the nursing workload in intensive care with the Nursing Activities Score (NAS): A prospective study in 16 hospitals in Belgium.

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PURPOSE The evaluation of nursing workload is a common practice in intensive care units (ICUs). It allows the calculation of an optimal nurse/patient ratio (N/P) which is a major challenge… Click to show full abstract

PURPOSE The evaluation of nursing workload is a common practice in intensive care units (ICUs). It allows the calculation of an optimal nurse/patient ratio (N/P) which is a major challenge to ensuring the quality of care while controlling the costs of health care. The objectives of this study were, therefore, to evaluate the N/P ratio and to study nursing activities in intensive care in French-speaking Belgium. METHODS The Nursing Activities Score (NAS) was prospectively recorded by shift for two periods of one month each in 16 French-speaking Belgian hospitals for a total of 316 ICU beds in 24 ICUs. RESULTS We included 3377 patients in the study, of which 64% were medical (versus surgical). The results for 24-hour NAS (68.6%) were significantly different from the NAS per shift (Morning: 61.3%, Afternoon: 58.4%, Night: 55.0%). Outliers were significantly more prevalent among men and patients who died and outliers had longer stays in the ICU. Finally, mobilization-positioning and clinical-administrative tasks took, on average, more time for nurses in the ICU. CONCLUSIONS There is a significant difference in N/P ratio between the Belgian regulation (1/3) and the one calculated by the NAS (1/1.5). A systematic objective assessment of shift workload should be done to avoid N/P ratio differences in intensive care.

Keywords: nursing workload; intensive care; nursing; nursing activities; care

Journal Title: Journal of critical care
Year Published: 2019

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