Nursing workload in burn intensive care unit

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Nursing
• Burn Management
• Healthcare Management

Background:

• Burn Intensive Care Units (ICUs) present unique challenges for nursing staff.
• Quantifying nursing workload is crucial for effective resource allocation and patient care.
• Previous studies have explored nursing workload, but specific associations in burn populations require further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the nursing workload in Burn Intensive Care Units (ICUs).
• To examine the relationship between nursing workload and clinical variables in burn patients.
• To evaluate the association of nursing workload with length of stay and hospitalization outcomes.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study was conducted in a Brazilian public hospital.
• Nursing workload was measured using the Nursing Activities Score (NAS) for 33 patients, with 447 assessments performed.
• Statistical analyses included Student's t-test, ANOVA, and Spearman's correlation, with a significance level of p ≤ 0.05.

Main Results:

• The mean Nursing Activities Score (NAS) was 84% (± 4.4), equivalent to 20.2 hours of nursing care.
• A significant association was found between nursing workload and patient severity (p <0.010).
• Nursing workload also correlated significantly with the percentage of burned body surface area (p = 0.010) and hospitalization outcome (p = 0.020).

Conclusions:

• Burn patients in the ICU require a substantial nursing workload.
• Clinical factors, including patient severity and burned body surface area, significantly influence nursing workload.
• The findings underscore the necessity of re-evaluating nurse staffing levels to meet the demands of burn care.
• Hospitalization outcomes are associated with the high nursing workload observed in burn ICUs.