Classification of patients and nursing workload in intensive care: comparison between instruments.

Objectives: To evaluate the mean nursing workload obtained through the Nursing Activities Score (NAS) and extract the degree of dependency of patients using Perroca's Patient Classification System (PCS).

Methods: Prospective study conducted at the intensive care unit of a private hospital that is a center of reference in oncology. The instruments were applied daily in a sample of 40 patients with a minimum stay of 24 hours.

Results: Two hundred and seventy-seven measurements were performed with the instruments. The NAS mean was 69.8% (± 24.1%) and Perroca's Patient Classification System score was 22.7% (± 4.2%). The hours of care found by averaging NAS were almost twice those estimated by Perroca's, showing a difference of 7.3 hours.

Conclusion: The direct instrument NAS was more appropriate to measure nursing workload when compared to Perroca's indirect instrument in the studied intensive care unit.