Search

Objectives: Body weight and infection status affect nursing workload and are not accounted for in the Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System 28 (TISS-28) and Nine Equivalents of Nursing Manpower Use Score (NEMS). The objective of this study was to analyse the correlation between weight and infection status with TISS 28 and NEMS in a cohort of medical Intensive Care Unit patients., Research Methodology: A retrospective observational trial was conducted on the nursing records of 26 randomly selected patients over a 12-month period. TISS-28 and NEMS were calculated for each day of ICU stay. Infectious status was determined based on positive cultures to multi-resistant organisms while overweight and obesity were based on Body Mass Index., Results: A total of 809 nursing shifts' activity records were analysed. There were 12 infected patients that required isolation, 14 overweight patients and 3 obese: 9 patients presented both conditions. Only the presence of both conditions was statistically associated with an increase in workload (TISS-28p-value = 0.041 and NEMS p-value = 0.011)., Conclusions: Although TISS-28 and NEMS do not specifically consider body weight and infection status, their integration into nursing workload scores may improve the accuracy as management tools, increasing the quality of the cares provided., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

An innovative teaching strategy focused on problem based approach rather than theorical aiming to facilitate the learning of the research methodology in advanced nursing student has been introduced. Through out a qualitative evaluation of the diary kept by the student nurses involved, advantages and disadvantages of this innovative approach have been evaluated. This paper reports a synthesis of the teaching strategy and its impact on the competences in the research methodology as it has been perceived by the students participants.