Impact of Wound Dressing Changes on Nursing Workload in an Intensive Care Unit

Juliana Dias dos Reis, Pedro Sa-Couto, José Mateus, Carlos Jorge Simões, Alexandre Rodrigues, Pedro Sardo and João Lindo Simões ()
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Juliana Dias dos Reis: Centre for Research and Development in Mathematics and Applications (CIDMA), Department of Mathematics (DMAT), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Pedro Sa-Couto: Centre for Research and Development in Mathematics and Applications (CIDMA), Department of Mathematics (DMAT), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
José Mateus: Intensive Care Unit, Centro Hospitalar do Baixo Vouga E.P.E., 3810-164 Aveiro, Portugal
Carlos Jorge Simões: Intensive Care Unit, Centro Hospitalar do Baixo Vouga E.P.E., 3810-164 Aveiro, Portugal
Alexandre Rodrigues: School of Health Sciences (ESSUA), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
Pedro Sardo: School of Health Sciences (ESSUA), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
João Lindo Simões: School of Health Sciences (ESSUA), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 7, 1-17

Abstract: The objective of this study is to understand how the type of wound dressing changes (routine or frequent) in patients admitted to intensive care units influences nurses’ workload. This study used a database of retrospective and analytical observational study from one Portuguese intensive care unit. The sample included 728 adult patients admitted between 2015 and 2019. The nursing workload was assessed by the TISS-28 scale, both at admission and at discharge. The linear regression results show that patients with frequent dressing changes are associated with a higher nursing workload, both at admission (Coef. 1.65; 95% CI [0.53; 2.77]) and discharge (Coef. 1.27; 95% CI [0.32; 2.22]). In addition, age influences the nursing workload; older people are associated with a higher nursing workload (at admission Coef. 0.07; 95% CI [0.04; 0.10]; at discharge Coef. 0.08; 95% CI [0.05; 0.10]). Additionally, an increase in nursing workload at admission would significantly increase the nursing workload at discharge (Coef. 0.27; 95% CI [0.21; 0.33]). The relative stability of the nursing workload over the studied years is also another important finding (the influence of studied years is non-significant). In conclusion, patients with frequent dressing changes presented higher TISS-28 scores when compared with patients with an exchange of routine dressings, which leads to a higher nursing workload.

Keywords: nursing; workload; intensive care units; wounds and injuries; TISS-28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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