Standard workload-based estimation of nursing manpower requirement in the ICU of a tertiary care teaching hospital: A time and motion study

The safety of patients remain at risk due to a higher workload and lower nurse‑to‑patient ratio. However, in India, most hospitals still adhere to long‑known nurse staffing norms set by their statutory or accreditation bodies. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to recommend a standard workload‑based estimation of nursing manpower requirement in the ICU of a tertiary care teaching hospital.

It was a descriptive, observational, time and motion study was conducted in the medicine ICU of a tertiary care teaching hospital. Data collection was done by using demographic and clinical profile sheet of patients, NPDS‑H dependency assessment scale, time and activities record sheet, and WHO WISN tool. The nurses’ activities were observed by nonparticipatory and non‑concealment technique. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics and the WHO WISN tool.

The bed occupancy rate and the average length of stay in the medicine ICU were 93.23% and 7.18 days respectively. Distribution of dependency level of the medical ICU patients was very high (41.67%), low‑high (33.33%), and medium‑high (25.0%) dependency level. Considering available resources and workload in tertiary care hospitals in India, the study recommended a nurse‑to‑patient ratio of 1:1.2 in each shift for the medicine ICU of a tertiary care hospital.

The study suggested minimum nurse-to-patient ratio in medical ICU should be 1:1.2 with provision of power to ICU incharge nurse to allocate nurses according to the workload in different shifts. Also, nurse staffing norms in hospitals need to be estimated or selected with serious consideration of health care demands when employing nurse staffing norms.