www.sciedupress.com/cns Clinical Nursing Studies 2016, Vol. 4, No. 1 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Increased nursing workload in patients with sepsis: A cohort study Juliana AM Altafin 1 , Cintia MC Grion *2 , Ivanil AM Kauss 1 , Elza HT Anami 1 , Lucienne TQ Cardoso 2 , Fernanda Chiqueti 2 , Marjorie M Kaneshima 2 , Tiemi Matsuo 3 1 University Hospital, Londrina State University, Londrina, Brazil 2 Medical Department, Londrina State University, Londrina, Brazil 3 Statistics Department, Londrina State University, Londrina, Brazil Received: October 15, 2015 Accepted: November 24, 2015 Online Published: December 2, 2015 DOI: 10.5430/cns.v4n1p33 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/cns.v4n1p33 ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the nursing workload using the Nursing Activities Score (NAS) and compare results between patients with and without sepsis at an adult intensive care unit. Methods: Prospective cohort study of patients admitted to the adult intensive care unit from March 10 to December 31, 2008. Clinical data of septic patients were collected in addition to data needed to calculate scores. Data were collected each day until release from the intensive care unit or up to 90 days of hospitalization. The nursing workload assessed using the Therapeutic Intervention Score System-28 and Nursing Activities Score relative to patients with and without sepsis were compared. The significance level was established at 5%. Results: A total of 437 patients were assessed (318 with and 119 without sepsis). The average nursing workload as measured by the Nursing Activities Score was high for the general intensive care unit (Nursing Activities Score = 74.7%). Patients with sepsis were associated with greater nursing workloads during their first two weeks in the intensive care unit compared with patients without sepsis (p < .05). Patients with septic shock were associated with greater nursing workloads (median Nursing Activities Score = 75.62%, p < .001) compared with patients without sepsis (median Nursing Activities Score = 72.57%), those with sepsis (median Nursing Activities Score = 70.20%), and those with severe sepsis (median Nursing Activities Score = 72.65%). Conclusions: Sepsis increased nursing workload during the first two weeks after admission to the intensive care unit and the NAS may be useful to capture these differences. Key Words: Organization and administration, Sepsis, Intensive care units, Nursing, Workload 1. I NTRODUCTION Intensive care units (ICUs) are the setting of care for patients with severe conditions. Thus, these units are characterized by great complexity, elevated costs, and the centralization of specialized technological resources. Factors such as tech- nological advances, population aging, and the increasing numbers of chronic and critically ill patients currently influ- ence the inpatient profile of ICUs, thereby leading to longer periods of hospitalization and greater degrees of care. [1] The incidence of sepsis is high in ICU. [2] Sepsis is a clini- cal condition associated with high mortality rates and com- plex treatments. A worldwide campaign was launched to establish recommendations to optimize the treatment of pa- tients with sepsis and increase their chances of survival. [3] These recommendations included nursing procedures and caregiving strategies in ICUs. Sixty-three nursing care rec- * Correspondence: Cintia MC Grion; Email: cintiagrion@hotmail.com; Address: Departamento de Clinica Médica – CCS, Rua Robert Koch 60, Vila Operária, Londrina, Paraná, Brazil. Published by Sciedu Press 33