[Significance of scores in intensive care medicine]

For nurses in intensive care units (ICUs), the use of scoring instruments is a familiar and important part of their work. Frequently, condition-referred instruments are used to assess various conditions, e.g., pain intensity or degree of alertness. Furthermore, ICU nurses use instruments to assess the risk, e.g., of developing pressure ulcers or to fall. A third important group of instruments are those used to document resource utilization by nurses. However, the estimation of the overall benefit of such scores in the intensive care setting is problematic. In Germany, assessment instruments are mainly required for use within the range of the SGB XI. With regard to intensive care settings, the majority of publications address the presentation of scores or the development of new instruments. From the nursing perspective, no clear conceptual distinction can be made between scores and scales; many instruments lack scientific proof of their benefit for nursing care. Discrepancies with the physicians' viewpoint may exist in some cases.