Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective: to size the Nursing staff in clinical, surgical and pediatric inpatient units. Method: a retrospective cross-sectional study, carried out in a university hospital in Midwest Brazil. The data were obtained from daily classifications of the care complexity level (n=5,808) among patients (n=882) hospitalized in the referred units, from July to October 2019, in addition to occupancy and hospital stay indicators. Descriptive statistical analysis, parameters and an equation specific to the design were used. Results: clinical hospitalization had the highest occupation, permanence, demand for Nursing hours/day (162.58) and deficit of nurses (-12), followed by the pediatric unit (-2). In the clinical and surgical units, there was the same available/real number of nurses. The general staff sized showed personnel surplus (+24), due to the high number of mid-level professionals in all the sectors. Conclusion: expected sizing inadequacy was verified, as there was a mismatch between workload and allocation of professionals in the units.
Highlights
In the search for quality and optimization of resources, health organizations have adopted principles of administration – and even of production engineering – with an emphasis on the use of managerial tools that leverage assertiveness to the decision-making power, in addition to maximum effectiveness at work[1]
This study showed that clinical hospitalization stood out for the greater number of hours required from Nursing (162.58), which is perhaps expected even by the larger number of beds, in addition to occupation
It is concluded that there was inadequacy of Nursing staff in the hospitalization units of the university hospital surveyed, as predicted by the sizing process, as there was a difference in workload and similarity in the allocation of professionals across the units
Summary
In the search for quality and optimization of resources, health organizations have adopted principles of administration – and even of production engineering – with an emphasis on the use of managerial tools that leverage assertiveness to the decision-making power, in addition to maximum effectiveness at work[1]. For Nursing, these tools add rationality among management elements, which contribute to safety and quality of care, the core of the profession[2]. In the nurse’s work, the tools, instruments and means of management are used both for direct and indirect care[2], such as the administration of human resources[3]. In this sense, the sizing of the Nursing staff is an indispensable and initial means for forecasting/planning the quantitative and qualitative aspects of the Nursing staff, required to meet a certain (in)direct assistance demand[3,4]. It is common to find inconsistencies in the practice regarding what is prescribed by such standardization, both at the hospital level[2,6,7] and in primary health care[8]
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