Introduction:

The workload influences the performance of the nursing staff and is related to the quality of the care to provide to the patients, this workload increases by conditions on the position occupied by the nurses and the presence of obstacles that limit their functions.

Objective:

To describe the level of workload, and performance obstacles of the nursing staff in an intensive care unit.

Methods:

A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out in the intensive care unit at Los Andes Autonomous Institute University Hospital (Mérida-Venezuela), from June to August 2019. We formed a sample of 36 nurses out of 46; NASA- TLX instrument was used to determine the workload (four tasks were selected); the Performance Obstacles of ICU Nurses questionnaire identified the existing obstacles. Measures of central tendency (median, interquartile ranges) were used. The statistical association of data (bivariate analysis) was applied the chi square test; statistical significance was considered for p <0.05.

Results: 50.00% of the participants were specialists. 77.76% were younger 40 years of age, and 88.88% were female. The tasks with the greatest workload were artificial airway care (NASA- Median TLX = 1105) and medication administration (NASA-TLX median = 1055). Most of the obstacles identified corresponded to the technology and tools category, the workload of the medication administration task had a statistical association with using equipment in poor condition (p = 0.031) and it was not in the proper place (p = 0.048).

Conclusions:

The nursing staff of the intensive care unit had high workload, influenced by performance obstacles.

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