Time management behaviors of head nurses and staff nurses employed in Tehran Social Security Hospitals, Iran in 2011

BACKGROUND: Effective time management is considered important for managers for achieving the goals in an organization. Head nurses can improve their efficiency and performance with effective use of time. There has always been a lot of disagreement in understanding time management behaviors of head nurses; therefore, the present study was conducted with an aim to compare the understanding of head nurses and staff nurses of the time management behaviors of head nurses employed in Social Security Hospitals in Tehran, Iran in 2011. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a comparative descriptive study in which 85 head nurses were selected through census and 170 staff nurses were also selected through simple random sampling method from hospitals covered by the Social Security. Data collection was done through a standard inventory with high validity and reliability, which consisted of two parts: Socio-demographic characteristics and time management inventory. The obtained data were analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics through SPSS software version 13. RESULTS: Mean score of time management in head nurses’ viewpoint was 143.22 (±18.66) and in staff nurses’ viewpoint was 136.04 (±21.45). There was a significant correlation between the mean scores of head nurses’ time management and some of their socio-demographic characteristics such as gender, clinical experience, passing a time management course, and book reading (P < 0.05). There was a significant correlation between the mean scores of staff nurses’ time management and their clinical working experience, education, using time management approach, and type of hospital (P < 0.05). The majority of head nurses (52.9%) believed that their time management was in a high level; besides, most of the staff nurses also (40%) believed that time management of their head nurses was high. However, there was a significant difference between the perceptions of both groups on using Mann–Whitney test (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: With regard to the importance of time management and its vital role in the quality of nursing care for clients, and also the fact that head nurses believed more in their time management behaviors, they are expected to improve organization's goals and developments in order to modify the weaknesses and shortages and promote the skills and capabilities of their staffs and also resolve the disagreement on the understanding of time management. Moreover, effective time management training programs can be an important step for staff nurses and their head nurses.