Nursing Activities Score and demand of nursing work in intensive care

Objective: To measure and characterize the workload of nurses in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) by applying the Nursing Activities Score (NAS). Methods: A descriptive, quantitative, retrospective study, conducted in one ICU of a Philanthropic Hospital in Teresina - PI (Brazil), from September to October 2010, with a sample of 66 patients. There were 285 measurements of the NAS performed. Results: With regards to nursing workload, there was a mean total score of 68.1% for the NAS (51.5% and 108.3%), corresponding to the percentage of time spent by nursing professionals in direct assistance to the patient within 24 hours. A statistical correlation was found between NAS and clinical outcome (p = 0.001). Among NAS and length of hospitalization (p = 0.073), and NAS and age (p = 0.952), there was no statistical significance. Conclusion: The results showed that patients had high care needs, reflected by the high mean of the NAS.