Journal of Perioperative & Critical Intensive Care Nursing
Open Access

Nursing workload

Nursing workload measures can be divided into four levels of categories. They are unit level, job level, patient level and situation level. These following measures can be systematized into a hierarchy. The situation level and patient level workloads are inserted in the job level workload and the job level workload is inserted in the unit level workload. For example: In a clinical unit several treatment responsibilities need to be completed by a group of nurses throughout a specific shift which is a unit level workload. The type and extent of workload of nurses is partially determined by the kind of unit and department like intensive care unit [ICU] nurse versus general floor nurse which is the job level workload. While execution of their job the nurses come across several conditions and patients which are factors of the situation and patient level workloads.