Financial impact of nursing professionals staff required in an Intensive Care Unit

Abstract

Objective:to calculate the cost of the average time of nursing care spent and required by patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the financial expense for the right dimension of staff of nursing professionals. Method:a descriptive, quantitative research, using the case study method, developed in adult ICU patients. We used the workload index - Nursing Activities Score; the average care time spent and required and the amount of professionals required were calculated using equations and from these data, and from the salary composition of professionals and contractual monthly time values, calculated the cost of direct labor of nursing. Results:the monthly cost of the average quantity of available professionals was US$ 35,763.12, corresponding to 29.6 professionals, and the required staff for 24 hours of care is 42.2 nurses, with a monthly cost of US$ 50,995.44. Conclusion:the numerical gap of nursing professionals was 30% and the monthly financial expense for adaptation of the structure is US$ 15,232.32, which corresponds to an increase of 42.59% in the amounts currently paid by the institution.

Ambiente da prática de enfermagem em unidades de terapia intensiva

“…(18,19) Considering the ICU as a specialized unit intended for the care of seriously ill and unstable patients, which demands high technically trained nursing professionals on a permanent basis, a low retention of these workers not only can compromise institutional results but also elevate operational costs. (20,21) The comparative analysis of the nursing practice environment among the professional categories demonstrated that the unfavorable perception was proportionally higher among nurses. Considering that in the current context more responsibility has been given to nurses, being their exclusive obligation tasks ranging from complex technical procedures, to leadership and decision-making tasks during the ICU care process, such finding is concerning and can compromise the nursing care delivered.…”

Association between workload of the nursing staff and patient safety outcomes

“…However, despite the growing evidence on the causal relationship between nurse staffing and better outcomes for the patients, the findings are still inconsistent when regarding the financial aspects involved in the adoption of policies for adequate nurse staffing in practice scenarios, both in international and Brazilian contexts. This is an indication for the necessity of development of further research on the costs and financial impacts of the nursing workforce on quality and safety outcomes (27)(28) .…”

Dimensionamento De Pessoal De Enfermagem Na Uti-Adulto De Hospital Universitário Público

“…Neste aspecto, um estudo identificou que a adequação de pessoal de enfermagem hospitalar pode representar acréscimo de até 40% sobre o total pago ao quadro de trabalhadores, independente da categoria (25) . Em contraponto, uma pesquisa recente realizada em hospital universitário de grande porte de Porto Alegre identificou que o incremento de 40% do número de enfermeiros e 16% do total de técnicos de enfermagem tem potencial para reduzir sobremaneira os índices de afastamentos por doença, o total do banco de horas excedentes, as horas extras pagas, bem como redução das taxas de lesão por pressão, quedas e infecções relacionadas ao uso de sonda vesical de demora (26) .…”