[Characterization of inpatients at the medical and surgical units of the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto Medical School Hospital, according to the level of dependence on nursing care].

This study characterized inpatients' level of dependence on nursing care at the medical and surgical hospitalization units of the University of São Paulo at Ribeirão Preto Medical School Hospital, Brazil, from April to June 2002. It also identified the mean bed occupation rate in the units under study. Perroca's Patient Classification System (2000) was used. Nine thousand, seven hundred and nineteen patients/day were classified at the medical units and 8,667 at the surgical units. In both the medical and surgical hospitalization units, there was a predominance of patients classified under the minimum level of nursing care with 70.3% and 66.9%, respectively. The mean bed occupation rate varied from 54.3 to 93.1% at the medical units and from 43.4 to 60.2% at the surgical units. The study allowed for the acquisition of knowledge about the clients with respect to the demand for nursing care with a view to the further development of nursing staff dimensioning.