The workload in a material and sterilization center: the information needed for nursing staffing

Abstract

The objective of this study was to measure the mean workload of nursing workers of a Material and Sterilization Center of a teaching hospital. After creating a classification system for the sterilized packages, an instrument was developed to measure the time invested to process those packages, and another instrument to record the quantity of sterilized packages that were processed per dat. For 122 days, the processed packages were recorded in specific instruments, according to their classification, including the complexity and quantity of articles contained in the sterilized package. We obtained the workload considering the mean number of packages processed per day and the mean processing time of the set of sterilized packages. In conclusion, the mean daily production was 657 packages, with a mean processing time of 10 minutes per package. Complementary studies are needed with the purpose of adding specific activities in the processing time of the sterilized packages.

Descriptors: Workload; Nursing; Sterilization.