Perception of workload of nurs working in the intensive care unit and determination of workload according to the nursing activities schedule

Aim: This research was conducted in a prospective and descriptive type to examine the existing workload and workload perceptions of nurses working in Intensive Care Units. Materials and Methods: The sample of the study consists of 92 nurses working in the intensive care unit and 52 patients admitted to the intensive care unit. Data were collected using the Nursing Activities Duration and Frequency Observation Form, Nursing Activities Score tool, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Assessment Tool-II (APACHE-II), and Workload Scale. In the evaluation of the data, arithmetic mean, median value, minimum maximum value, percentage values, standard deviation values were used. Data were analyzed with Pearson correlation and Spearman correlation analysis, One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney U tests. Results: As a result of the research, it was determined that the average score of the nurses on the Workload Scale was 23.60±5.78, the workload of more than half of the nurses (51.1%) was higher in the day shift, and 41.3% of them were equal in both shifts, day and night. During the research, it was found that 6872 nursing activities were applied after 504 hours of observation, which corresponds to 21 day shifts and 21 night shifts; 4647 nursing activities were observed and recorded as frequency and duration. The 10 activities that were recorded as total hours throughout the study and that took the most time of the nurses were CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) (45:23), Refreshing the nurse observation forms over the computer (17:07), Patient admission and monitoring (15:46), Patient transfer to another service (15:25), getting the patient up (15:17), general body care (14:49), preparation and participation in interventional procedures (11:24), Dressing and care of pressure sores (06:33), ECG (Electrocardiography) was taken (05:21), blood, urine, catheter, tracheal aspirate culture samples were taken (05:09). During the study, nurses' workload perception and workload were calculated through various scales, and the average and median of the nursing activity scores were found to be high. Therefore, it is recommended to examine the activities with a high workload value and to increase the number of nurses working in the intensive care units by evaluating these activities.