Nurses' attention demands in the work setting.

This descriptive study aimed to identify attention demand situations experienced by nurses in their workplace and to verify if these demands were judged differently depending on socio-demographic variables. Data were collected through the "Directed Attention Demands" instrument, translated and validated in Brazil. SAS statistics software was used for data analysis. The following demand situations scored higher: "watching a patient suffer", "a number of rapid decisions had to be made", "caring for families with emotional needs", "not enough time to provide emotional support to a patient", and "family teaching required". There were statistical differences for variables such as: age, marital status, professional qualification, work shift and number of hours worked weekly. The importance of these findings should be pointed out to managers and administrators in the adoption of strategies that can minimize these sources of demand for nurses.