ICA-EMA: A Tool for Assessing Nursing Complexity of Patients With Oncohematologic Disease in an Italian Center

Inpatients with hematologic cancer (HC), particularly in an aging population, often require levels of nursing care that feel very demanding. Therefore, it is important to assess nursing complexity in this care environment. The purpose of this study is to assess nursing complexity of inpatients with HC. A prospective observational study was carried out on 131 patients admitted to an adult hematologic center in northern Italy. The following variables were analyzed by means of the Index of Caring Complexity (ICA): age, sex, diagnostic category, purpose of admission, presence of transplant, Charlson Comorbidity Index, and length of stay. A total sample of 131 patients were enrolled. Patients older than 65 years, with a history of transplant, admitted for complications, and with a diagnosis of myeloma or myelodysplasia had higher ICA scores. Therefore, patients in these groups are more likely to exhibit a higher nursing complexity than other patients. The study results can help health-care professionals identify, at an early stage, patients who need higher levels of nursing care; promote a more efficient allocation of nursing staff to the patient needs based on their group; and qualify the need for higher levels of nursing care in order to improve nursing care quality and achieve higher standards of care in Italian hematologic centers.