This study conducted a integrative review of the literature with the objective of describing the historical trajectory of therapeutic interventions scores with emphasis on Nine Equivalents of Nursing Manpower Use Score in Intensive Care Units. The descriptors used were "Intensive care units" and "scales", for publications issued between 2000 and 2009. The sensitized terms were: "Nine Equivalents of Nursing Manpower Use Score" or "NEMS", "Unidade de Terapia Intensiva", "Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System-76", "Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System-28 or "TISS-28". Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE) and Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (LILACS) publications were selected. Among the 295 papers reviewed, 18 were chosen, of which 55,5% were in English. The studies approach NEMS (33,3%), Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System-76 (11,1%), TISS-28 (33,3%), among others. Researches emphasized that NEMS has been a useful, operational and succinct tool.
Intensive care units; Scales; Workload
