[The need for nursing care in intensive care units: daily patient assessment according to the nursing activities score (NAS)].

This study aimed to characterize patients admitted to ICU according to their bio-social factors and admissions and verify the daily needs for nursing care according to NAS. The sample was composed by 50 adult patients who were consecutively admitted to the ICU of a University Hospital in São Paulo city. It was concluded that most patients were older than 60 with an average of 3.5-day stay in the ICU; they came from the Emergency Room and were referred to the Semi-Intensive Care Unit. NAS average was 66.5% (+/- 9.1) with a score higher than 50.0% during their stay in the ICU.