Contributors to perceived workload strain in the pediatric intensive care unit
Candace Collins, Dustin Hansen, Amanda Levin, James Fackler, Michael Rosen, Salar Khaleghzadegan, Gayane Yenokyan, David C. Stockwell · 2026
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Description
Collins and colleagues measured what makes staff feel overloaded in a pediatric intensive care unit. They paired NASA workload scores and single-item stress ratings from fellows and charge nurses with electronic record data across shifts. The study ran during the COVID-19 pandemic, from October 2020 to April 2021.
Strain ran higher on day shifts than nights and higher for physicians than for nurses across the collection period. At the patient level, strain rose with more children per shift needing kidney replacement therapy or mechanical ventilation in the unit that day. Unit-level drivers included total admissions and discharges, blood draw counts, patient hours, and continuous medication infusions running simultaneously. Census and acuity swung widely during the pandemic window. The authors argue strain thresholds are dynamic. Staffing models should use these granular signals rather than headcounts alone.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Candace Collins, Dustin Hansen, Amanda Levin, James Fackler, Michael Rosen, Salar Khaleghzadegan, Gayane Yenokyan, David C. Stockwell |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 40 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |