The assessment of nursing workload in Intensive Care Unit based on the scale "Nine equivalents of nursing manpower use score" (NEMS)

Background. An Intensive Care Unit (ICU) is a separate organizational unit whose most important goal is
to support a patient’s life functions in a life-threatening condition. Optimal nursing staffing in ICU should
satisfy patients’ needs undergoing surgical procedures as well as those receiving preventive treatment.
Aim. The purpose of this study was to evaluate nursing workload based on NEMS scale and to compare
it with a group of patients undergoing operative procedure and those not requiring surgical
intervention.

Material and methods. The investigated group comprised all patients admitted to the clinical ICU
from July to August 2005. The method used in the study was participant observation with the application
of two standardized scales: apache II and NEMS. The research method used was documentation
analysis.

Results. The study included 80 patients (17 operated - patients and 63 non-operated-patients). The
mean age was: 56.6 ± 14.2 for operated - patients and 57.5 ± 19.9 for non-operated-patients. The mean
length of stay for surgical patients was 3.1 ± 2.9 days, and for non-surgical patients 11.9 ± 18.4 days. The
patient-level score in the surgical group was 25.8 ± 7.3 on day duty and 25.7 ± 6.3 on night duty. In the
non-surgical group the mean score was 26.8 ± 7.0 on day duty and 26.4 ± 6.9 on night duty.
The mean score of nursing staffing was 6.3 ± 0.7 nurses on day duty and 6.2 ± 0.7 on night duty with
mean number of patients on day and night duty: 9.5 ± 1.0 and 9.8 ± 0.9 respectively.
Mean nursing workload was 43.9 ± 9.1 points on day duty and 42.5 ± 7.5 points on night duty.

Conclusions. No significant statistical differences were noticed in nursing workload between the surgical
patients and non-surgical patients. Nursing workload determined by means of NEMS scale is
similar to the workload presented by the author of the original methodological tool. Workload is dependent
on the clinical condition of the patient.