Abstract
One of the assumptions of content validity when measuring nursing workload is that the nurses feel that the instrument reflects and represents their work or the patients' need for care. The aim of this study was to compare the subjective experience by nurses of their workload in relation to registered workload, both with regard to all the patients cared for during one shift, and with regard to all the indicators in the instrument. Nursing workload according to Vårdtyngd Lund (VTL) has been registered at the unite since 1992. Workload points (VT-p) per nurse during the period (nine selected days autumn 1997) were lower than the annual average.
Work demands, meaning working very fast, working very hard, job requiring intense concentration, often interrupted tasks and hectic work together with the feeling of haste show a significant correlation with VT-p per nurse (p < 0.001). Work demands were experienced as higher on weekdays when compared with Saturdays and Sundays and this corresponds to increasing VT-p per nurse. A majority of nurses considered that the indicators in the workload measurement reflected their experienced workload. In the comments the domains that lacked the most were indirect care and unite-related activities.