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. 2021 Jul;8(4):1625-1633.
doi: 10.1002/nop2.785. Epub 2021 Feb 17.

Nursing physical workload and mental workload in intensive care units: Are they related?

Kolsoom Nasirizad Moghadam  1 , Minoo Mitra Chehrzad  2 , Shademan Reza Masouleh  3 , Maryam Maleki  4 , Abbas Mardani  5 , Shahaboddin Atharyan  6 , Celia Harding  7
Affiliations

Nursing physical workload and mental workload in intensive care units: Are they related?

Kolsoom Nasirizad Moghadam et al. Nurs Open. 2021 Jul.

Abstract

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.

Keywords: ICU; intensive care unit; mental workload; nurse; physical workload.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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