Staff cost in direct nursing care at an intensive care unit / Costo de los profesionales en la atención directa de enfermería en la unidad de cuidados intensivos / Custo de pessoal na assistência direta de enfermagem em unidade de terapia intensiva

This quantitative case study aimed to learn and analyze the personnel cost in nursing direct care in the intensive care unit. We opted to use a therapeutic intervention score index, TISS-28, for the analysis of the indirect gravity of patients and the dimension of the nursing staff working time. Evaluating the cost by a gravity score presented to be a logical and relatively simple method to allocate costs per patient in the intensive care unit. In this exploratory and descriptive study, the average TISS-28 per patient was 31 points, requiring a daily expenditure of care hours of R$ 298.69. It was evidenced in this study that personnel costs are variable since there are patients with different complexities. Therefore is possible to estimate the nursing staff cost by assessing its work load.

Con este estudio de caso con aproximación cuantitativa, pretendemos conocer y analizar el costo de los profesionales en la atención directa de enfermería en una unidad de cuidados intensivos. Optamos por la utilización de un índice de intervenciones terapéuticas, TISS-28, para análisis de la gravedad indirecta de los pacientes y dimensionamiento del tiempo de trabajo del equipo de enfermería. Al indagar el costo como un índice de gravedad éste se mostró un método lógico y relativamente sencillo de presupuestar costos por paciente en la unidad de cuidados intensivos. En este estudio, el TISS-28 promedio por paciente fue de 31 puntos, lo que demandó un costo diario de R$ 298,69 de horas de atención de enfermería. En este trabajo, se identificó que el costo de los profesionales es variable, pues existen pacientes con diversas complejidades y muy diferentes, siendo posible, por medio de la evaluación de la carga de trabajo del equipo de enfermería, establecer estimativas individuales de su costo.

Pretendeu-se com este estudo de caso, com abordagem quantitativa, conhecer e analisar o custo de pessoal na assistência direta de enfermagem em unidade de terapia intensiva. Optou-se pela utilização de um índice de intervenções terapêuticas, TISS-28, para análise da gravidade indireta dos pacientes e dimensionamento do tempo de trabalho da equipe de enfermagem. Evidenciou-se, neste trabalho, que o custo com pessoal é variável, pois há pacientes com complexidades bem diferentes, sendo possível, por meio da avaliação da carga de trabalho da equipe de enfermagem, estabelecer estimativas individuais de seu custo. Neste estudo o TISS-28 médio por paciente foi de 31 pontos, demandando custo diário de horas de assistência de enfermagem de R$ 298,69. Apurar o custo por um índice de gravidade mostrou-se método lógico e relativamente simples de alocação de custos por paciente em unidade de terapia intensiva.

Variations in Nurse Staffing in Adult and Neonatal Intensive Care Units / 간호학회지

PURPOSE: This study was done to analyze variations in unit staffing and recommend policies to improve nursing staffing levels in intensive care units (ICUs). METHOD: A cross-sectional study design was used, employing survey data from the Health Insurance Review Agency conducted from June-July, 2003. Unitstaffing was measured using two indicators; bed-to-nurse (B/N) ratio (number of beds per nurse), and patient-to-nurse (P/N)ratio (number of average daily patients per nurse). Staffing levels were compared according to hospital and ICU characteristics. RESULT: A total of 414 institutions were operating 569 adult and 86 neonatal ICUs. Tertiary hospitals (n=42) had the lowest mean B/N (0.82) and P/N (0.76) ratios in adult ICUs, followed by general hospitals (B/N: 1.34, P/N: 0.97). Those ratios indicated that a nurse took care of 3 to 5 patients per shift. Neonatal ICUs had worse staffing and had greater variations in staffing ratios than adult ICUs. About 17% of adult and 26% of neonatal ICUs were staffed only by adjunct nurses who had responsibility for a general ward as well as the ICU. CONCLUSION: Stratification of nurse staffing levels and differentiation of ICU utilization fees based on staffing grades are recommended as a policy tool to improve nurse staffing in ICUs.

Tempo de permanência de enfermeiros em um hospital-escola e valores monetários despendidos nos processos de admissão, desligamento e provimento de novo profissional / Time of permanence of nurses at a school-hospital and expenses related to admission, resignation and hiring of a new professional

Este estudo descritivo teve como objetivo conhecer o tempo de permanência dos enfermeiros numa instituição hospitalar e sua relação com o valor monetário em horas/salário, referente à admissão, à saída e ao provimento de novo enfermeiro. Foram analisados os registros de saída de 109 enfermeiros de um hospital na zona leste da cidade de São Paulo, no período de 2000 a 2002, fornecidos pelo Departamento de Recursos Humanos em 2003, bem como os valores monetários em horas/salário do pessoal envolvido no processo de seleção, admissão, treinamento e demissão. O estudo mostrou que o tempo de permanência do enfermeiro na instituição foi curto (média de 20 meses e mediana 18); 30,53 por cento dos enfermeiros deixaram o hospital com menos de 1 ano; o valor monetário médio para admissão e desligamento de enfermeiros foi de R$ 881,43 o tempo de permanência breve duplicou o custo para a contratação de novo profissional.

Factors Related to Nurse Staffing Levels in Tertiary and General Hospitals / 간호학회지

BACKGROUND: Adequate staffing is necessary to meet patient care needs and provide safe, quality nursing care. In November 1999, the Korean government implemented a new staffing policy that differentiates nursing fees for inpatients based on nurse-to-bed ratios. The purpose was to prevent hospitals from delegating nursing care to family members of patients or paid caregivers, and ultimately deteriorating the quality of nursing care services. PURPOSE: To examine nurse staffing levels and related factors including hospital, nursing and medical staff, and financial characteristics. METHODS: A cross-sectional design was employed using two administrative databases, Medical Care Institution Database and Medical Claims Data for May 1-31, 2002. Nurse staffing was graded from 1 to 6, based on grading criteria of nurse-to-bed ratios provided by the policy. The study sample consisted of 42 tertiary and 186 general acute care hospitals. RESULTS: None of tertiary or general hospitals gained the highest nurse staffing of Grade 1 (i.e., less than 2 beds per nurse in tertiary hospitals; less than 2.5 beds per nurse in general hospitals). Two thirds of the general hospitals had the lowest staffing of Grade 6 (i.e., 4 or more beds per nurse in tertiary hospitals; 4.5 or more beds per nurse in general hospitals). Tertiary hospitals were better staffed than general hospitals, and private hospitals had higher staffing levels compared to public hospitals. Large-sized general hospitals located in metropolitan areas had higher staffing than other general hospitals. Occupancy rate was positively related to nurse staffing. A negative relationship between nursing assistant and nurse staffing was found in general hospitals. A greater number of physician specialists were associated with better nurse staffing. CONCLUSIONS: The staffing policy needs to be evaluated and modified to make it more effective in leading hospitals to increase nurse staffing.