ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To study the nursing duties according to pathology, measuring the time required to give the necessary patient care. Both direct and indirect activities were analyzed. The patients were classified according to the Diagnostically Related Group (DRG) system. METHODS: The study was conducted with hospitalized ophthalmology patients. To increase accuracy the different methods of measuring the work loads were adjusted. A modified Delphi method was used as a time standard. The amount of time spent on direct and indirect activities per patient was analyzed according to the DRG for each day in the hospital as well as each shift. Differences between pathologies were also accounted for. RESULTS: The patients in the various groups had the following mean times per activity: DRG 036-1010.5 minutes; DRG 042 912.3 minutes; DRG 039-335.3 minutes; DRG 040-302.9 minutes. There are some significant differences between some pathologies but if they are adjusted for their average say they are not significant. CONCLUSION: The work load of ophthalmology nurses depends basically in the average stay in the hospital and not the pathology.
