There is evidence that nursing workload is associated with the quality of patient care and the health of workers. Workloads and resource allocation can be measured by scoring systems. To provide a real-time assessment of nurse allocation and workloads, the Nursing Activities Score (NAS) was developed as a means to measure patient care. The items examine specific activities: patient monitoring, medication, hygiene procedures, care of drains, patient mobilization and positioning, admission and discharge procedures, administrative and managerial tasks, research activity and renal, invasive and non invasive ventilation, cardiovascular, metabolic and nutritional support. There is also the possibility to weigh those specific interventions in intensive care which are the exclusive competence of nurses. The authors maintain that the score wholly reflects 81% of nursing time. The remaining 19% comes from nursing activities deriving from medical interventions, related exclusively to the severity of illness of the patient. NAS was created in order to better define nursing activities in relation to continuous patient monitoring, performing hygiene procedures, mobilization procedures, data handling and caring for relatives. The appropriate application of NAS will support the taking up of real measures in response to the working demands of nurses and will allow for improved investment in human and material resources at the ICU.
Lucchini, A., Pirovano, M., De Felippis, C., Comisso, I. (2018). Nurse staffing levels: Skill mix and nursing care hours per patient day. In Nursing in Critical Care Setting: An Overview from Basic to Sensitive Outcomes (pp. 465-488). Springer International Publishing [10.1007/978-3-319-50559-6_18].
Nurse staffing levels: Skill mix and nursing care hours per patient day
Lucchini, A
;
2018
Abstract
There is evidence that nursing workload is associated with the quality of patient care and the health of workers. Workloads and resource allocation can be measured by scoring systems. To provide a real-time assessment of nurse allocation and workloads, the Nursing Activities Score (NAS) was developed as a means to measure patient care. The items examine specific activities: patient monitoring, medication, hygiene procedures, care of drains, patient mobilization and positioning, admission and discharge procedures, administrative and managerial tasks, research activity and renal, invasive and non invasive ventilation, cardiovascular, metabolic and nutritional support. There is also the possibility to weigh those specific interventions in intensive care which are the exclusive competence of nurses. The authors maintain that the score wholly reflects 81% of nursing time. The remaining 19% comes from nursing activities deriving from medical interventions, related exclusively to the severity of illness of the patient. NAS was created in order to better define nursing activities in relation to continuous patient monitoring, performing hygiene procedures, mobilization procedures, data handling and caring for relatives. The appropriate application of NAS will support the taking up of real measures in response to the working demands of nurses and will allow for improved investment in human and material resources at the ICU.
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