Background: Understanding factors that can potentially influence patient care and nursing workload in intensive care units is important. Previous studies have shown contradictory outcomes about the relationships between nursing workload and patient and nurse characteristics. Aims and objectives:This study aimed to investigate nursing workload in intensive care units and examine the association between this in relation to patient and nurse characteristics. Design:A cross-sectional design was conducted.Methods: All nurses who were working in the intensive care units of five hospitals and met the study criteria were enrolled in the study. Two demographic questionnaires collected nurse and patient demographic information. The Nursing Activities Score was applied to determine nursing workload in three shifts (morning, evening, night) for each nurse. Data were analyzed using the independent sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and multivariable linear regression analysis. Results:The Nursing Activities Score was calculated for 509 patients who were under the care of the 105 intensive care unit nurses. The mean (SD) nursing activities score was 72.84% (22.07%).Morning shifts, male patients, medical treatments, and referred patients from the emergency ward and other intensive care units imposed a higher workload for nurses. Specifically, female nurses, increased number of patients receiving care, and increased patient length of intensive care unit stay were directly associated with increased nursing activities scores. Work in surgical and burn intensive care units were inversely associated with the nursing activities score. Conclusion:This study suggests that the workload of nurses in intensive care units can be affected by both nurse and patient characteristics. Relevance to clinical practice:The findings can be used to ensure appropriate staffing of intensive care units by nurses. However, nurse and patient characteristics should not be considered as the only factors which influence nursing workload in intensive care units.

Aim In order to ensure patient safety and quality of care, it is important to consider factors which may impact on nursing workloads. This study aimed to investigate the simultaneous physical and mental workload and any relationships between these concepts on nurses working in intensive care units. Design A cross‐sectional design was undertaken. Method Participants were nurses (N = 105) recruited from six adult intensive care units which met the inclusion criteria. Nursing Activities Score (NAS) to measure physical workload and NASA Task Load Index (NASA‐TLX) to measure mental workload were used. Data were collected for each participating nurse in three shifts (morning, evening and night). Data were analysed using bivariate correlation and multivariable linear regression analysis. Results The mean (SD) of nurses' physical and mental workload was 72.84% (22.07%) and 70.21 (12.36), respectively. A significant relationship between physical and mental workload (p <.001) was identified.

Materials and Methods:The current analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 on 105 nurses working in ICUs of educational and medical centers affiliated to Guilan University of Medical Sciences in Rasht, Iran using National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX). This tool measures mental workload on the whole and separately under six subscales of mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, performance, effort, and frustration with regard to their weight, rate, and score. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive (mean and standard deviation) and inferential (Pearson correlation test, t-test, and ANOVA) statistics. Results:The Mean±SD mental workload was reported 70.21±12.4, where physical demand dimension had the highest score compared to other dimensions (Mean±SD weight=77.73±12; rate=3.25; score=17.01). In addition, the mental workload of ICU nurses had a significant relationship with the type of ICU, the age of nurses, and number of patients under their care in each shift (P<0.05). Conclusion:Based on the results, the mental workload of younger nurses increased with the increase in the number of patients under care. With the appropriate distribution of human resources and proper training for young nurses to control occupational stress and modify intra-sectoral and intra-hospital rules, their mental load may be reduced.