Decoding Nursing Job Demands: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study Assessing Nursing Workload in Hospital Medical-Surgical Wards

Background: Nursing workload is largely studied but poorly explored under physical, mental, and emotional dimensions. Currently, only a limited number of variables have been linked to nursing workload and work contexts. Purpose: The study aimed to investigate whether it is feasible to identify variables that consistently correlate with nursing workload and others that are specific to the context. Methods: We employed a descriptive correlational analysis and a cross-sectional design. Data were collected through a survey distributed to registered nurses working across Italy, at the conclusion of randomly assigned morning or afternoon shifts. Results: We received 456 surveys from 195 shifts, collected from nurses in four public and two private hospitals. Commonly associated variables with nursing workload dimensions included patient complexity of care, admission/discharge or transfer, informing patients/relatives, contacting physicians, and unscheduled activities. Variables categorized as setting-specific were patient isolation and specialties, nurse-to-patient ratio, adequacy of staff in the shift, peer collaboration, healthcare documentation, educating others, and medical urgency. Conclusions: In summary, certain variables consistently correlate with nursing workload across settings, while others are specific to the context of care. It is imperative for nurses and nurse managers to measure the nursing workload in various dimensions, enabling the prompt implementation of improvement actions.