Aim. The aim of this paper was to investigate the application value of the intensive care nursing scoring system (ICNSS) in intensive care unit (ICU) nursing resources allocation. Methods. The English version of ICNSS scale was translated into Chinese by nursing experts, and was consistently revised and improved based on China's actual conditions. A total of 105 cases were randomly divided into the observation group (N.=55) and the control group (N.=50). In the observation group, the nursing workload was estimated and the nurses were allocated using ICNSS; in the control group, the sickbeds were equally distributed to the nurses and each nurse was equally in charge of managing patients. The ICU duration, medical charge, incidence of complications, nursing quality control scoring and nurses' satisfaction to their resource allocations were compared between the two groups. Results. The ICU duration, medical charge and incidence of complications in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P=0.032, P=0.024, p=0.006 respectively); while quality control scoring and nurses' satisfaction to their resources allocation in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P=0.045, P=0.004 respectively). Conclusion. The nursing quality and the nurses' satisfaction could be improved using ICNSS to evaluate ICU nursing workload and allocate resources.