Sizing of nursing staff in clinical, surgical and pediatric hospitalization units

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.