Abstract: Objective: To explore the applicability of the Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) and modified the Nursing Activities Score (NAS) among hospitalized patients in prediction of nurse staffing allocation in the adult Neurology Intensive Care Units (ICU). Methods: Totally 314 cases in the Neurology ICU were estimated using APACHE ?II and modified NAS to predict the demands for nurse staffing. The predicted nurse staffing were compared with the actual nurse-patient ratio in the unit. Results: Significant differences were found between the actual and predicted nurse-patient ratio according to patients' scores on APACHE ?II and modified NAS. The actual nurse-patient ratio remained was the lowest, the modified NAS prediction was in the middle, while the APACHE ?II prediction was identified as the highest. The APACHE??II prediction of nurse-patient ratio ranged from 0.50?:?1.00 to 1.50?:?1.00; APACHE ?II was more applicable to predict nurse-patient ratio in nurse staffing regard to the care of hospitalized patients with different Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), different length of hospital stay and different disease diagnosis. Significant differences were found between day sfift and night shift according to modified NAS. Conclusion: APACHE??II can be used to adjust the manpower demand of ICU patients in Neurology ICU when patients are serious, the length of hospital stay is long and there are complications; NAS can be used for human resource allocation in different shifts, especially in daytime and with large amount of basic nursing.

Key words: Neurology ICU; nursing human resources; allocation; applicability