The extent of the adult-ICU nursing crew in a school hospital

Abstract

In the ICU, the nursing crew is likely to have a high number of working tasks as the patients/clients are on the borderline of an imminent death, are mostly dependent  and demand some complex care. Providing qualification and a number of nurses contributes to managing care quality, with cost cuts in care service and in the health risks of the clients and staff. This study aimed at analyzing the quantitative adequacy of the nurses of an Adult-ICU to the Resolution COFEN nº 293/2004. It was carried out in a public school hospital from March 30th  to June 30th  from 2007. The instrument used for data collection was the Patient Classification System proposed by Fugulin (1994). It showed as evidence that most of the patients (72.09%) demand some intensive care; that the instrument does not reveal many of the activities done in the ICU, and so, the number of nurses was adequate to the COFEN proposal. It came as conclusion that in the ICU, due to its complexity and an increasing number of health assistance, the extent of nurses deserves some considerations apart from other sectors/services.