This cross-sectional study aimed to identify and analyze the quality of nursing care in an adult general intensive care unit (ICU) at a university hospital. Data were collected from 23 clients with ICU length of stay ≥ 72 hours, from June to November 2012, through an Operational Audit Script and quality of care classified according to the index of positivity (IP) as follows: IP = 100%: desirable care; 90-99%: appropriate care; 80-89%: safe care; 70-79%: limitrophe care, and > 70%: tolerable care. Thus, the quality of care provided was rated as tolerable, as the global average was 61.71%. Furthermore, it was found that the best IP was assigned to the item equipment use (100%) and the worst to the item physical activities (17.39%). This study established the diagnosis of the status of nursing practices in the studied environment, which is a critical step in planning strategies and actions aimed at improving the quality of care provided.
Quality of health care; Nursing care; Intensive care; Nursing assessment; Nursing audit
