Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 14, 2026

Individualized Stem-positioning in Calcar-guided Short-stem Total Hip Arthroplasty
Published on: February 27, 2018
Actual and perceived nursing workload and the complexity of patients with total hip arthroplasty
M Olthof1, M Stevens1, B Dijkstra2
1University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Orthopedics, The Netherlands.
Background:
Little is known about the relation between patient complexity and nursing care of total hip arthroplasty (THA) patients. To improve patient care and hospital logistics, the aim of this study is to gain insight into the relation between patient complexity and the nursing staff's actual and perceived workload at an orthopedic ward during admission for a THA.
Design:
Prospective cohort study of 45 THA patients in the year 2014. Duration and type of nursing care activities were recorded during the first postoperative morning. A questionnaire was used to analyze the perceived workload of the nursing staff. Both actual and perceived workload were analyzed for their relation with patient complexity, expressed in the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score, Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), Katz Activities of Daily Life score (Katz-ADL) and Body Mass Index (BMI).
Results:
No relation was found between actual workload and measures for patient complexity. The perceived workload of the nursing staff was related to two complexity measures: ASA (r=0.71; p<0.001) and CCI (r=0.65; p=0.002).
Conclusion:
Patient comorbidity is related to the perceived workload of the nursing staff during admission for a THA. Patient complexity is not related to actual workload. This study gives a first insight into the relation between patient comorbidity and nursing staff workload, to try to improve staffing numbers at the ward as well as patient care in the process.
Related Concept Videos
Perceiving Loudness, Pitch, and Location
Place theory, or place coding, suggests that different pitches are heard because various sound waves activate specific locations along the cochlea's basilar membrane. The brain determines the pitch of a sound by...
Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching II: Planning and Implementation
Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching I: Assessment and Diagnosis
It is critical to determine the patient's learning needs during the assessment. Determination of learning needs compounds data...
Nursing Process for Patient and Caregiver Teaching III: Evaluation and Documentation
Nurses can use several methods to evaluate patient outcomes. For example, oral questions can assess cognitive learning,...
Obedience
Protein Complex Assembly
Many viruses self-assemble into a fully functional unit using the infected host cell to...

