Determinants of increased nursing workload in the COVID‐era: A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data

Background COVID‐19 is associated with increased nursing workload, therefore a high nurse‐to‐patient ratio would be required. Aim To analyse difference in nursing workload, as expressed with the Nursing Activities Score (NAS), between COVID‐19 patients versus control patients without COVID‐19 disease (NCOVID‐19 group) in an Italian Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) centre. Study Design Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data, enrolling consecutive patients admitted to a general Intensive Care Unit, between 1st May 2019 and 28th February 2021. A multivariate analysis was then performed to assess if COVID‐19 disease was an independent predictor of higher NAS and to assess which other factors and procedures are independently associated with increased workload. Results We enrolled 574 patients, of which 135 (24%) were in the COVID‐19 group and 439 (76%) in the NCOVID‐19 group. The average NAS was higher in the COVID‐19 group (79 ± 11 vs. 65 ± 15, T = −10.026; p