Relation between mental workload and hospital infection in the ICU

Nursing is among the most stressful professions. Studies that examine possible factors that influence the mental workload (MWL) of nurses are of fundamental importance, because through these results, efforts can be concentrated on improving their working conditions more efficiently.

To investigate the influence of hospital infection on the MWL of nurses in an intensive care unit (ICU).

Cross-sectional and descriptive study, with a quantitative approach. Three research instruments were used: a sociodemographic questionnaire, the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and the Nursing Work Index-Revised Brazilian version (B-NWI-R). The sample consisted of 30 nurses from the ICU of a public hospital in João Pessoa city, Brazil, during the daytime period, and the Spearman correlation test (α= 0,05) was applied to verify associations.

There was a high MWL among nurses, with a NASA-TLX weighted average of 66.38 (SD±15.0). Correlations were found between the levels of hospital infection in the ICU and the MWL of the nurses (r = 0.654, p < 0.01); in the nurses' care of patients with urinary tract infection, the correlation is 0.546, p < 0.01; if care is provided to patients with lung problems, the correlation is 0.563, p < 0.01 The ICU presented a favorable environment to nursing practices, with means lower than 2.5, according to the B-NWI-R.

The MWL of the nurses was associated with the hospital infection levels of the intensive care sector studied. It was found that the MWL of nurses in relation to hospital infection in the ICU increased by 42.8%. This MWL is impacted by 29.8% when nurses' care is linked to patients with urinary infection. But if care is provided to patients with lung problems, this percentage rises to 31.7.