RESUMO
BACKGROUND: In today's companies, time management abilities have grown as a significant predictor of nurses' success. Organizations have simplified their internal operations and flattened their organizational structures in an effort to increase productivity and cut expenses. As a result, successful time management skills are particularly crucial for nurses in recently restructured healthcare organizations. This study aimed at exploring factors influencing time management skills among Palestinian nurses. METHODS: Cross-sectional quantitative study of all nurses (715) working in private and government hospitals and primary healthcare centers in north Palestine was conducted. Time management skills were measured on a continuous scale using the Nursing Time Management Scale (NTMS), Arabic version. The scale measures various aspects of time management including goal setting, planning, scheduling, and organizing activities. The relationship between time management skills and background variables was assessed using the multivariate linear regression. RESULTS: The average total score for NTMS scale was 63.39 out of a total score of 90. This score indicates relatively good time management skills among the respondents. The multivariate linear regression results showed that females obtained slightly lower scores than males, coefficient = -2.36, p = 0.043. Nurses in primary care centers had significantly higher scores than nurses who work at hospitals, coefficient = 4.47, p = 0.004. The type of healthcare organization emerged as a significant factor predicting time management skills. Nurses in private hospitals had worse time management skills than nurses in government hospitals, coefficient = -12.27, p < 0.001. Nurse supervisors had better time management skills than staff nurses, coefficient = 4.01, p = 0.023. Nurses working in non-teaching hospitals had worse time management skills than nurses in teaching hospitals, coefficient = - 3.86, p = 0.001. Nurses who did not attend a time management course had worse time management skills than nurses who attended time management course, coefficient = - 4.05, p = p < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare institutions should consider organizational and individual factors to improve the time management skills of their staff. Time management training interventions are proven and effective policies that are recommended to be adopted by all healthcare centers.
RESUMO
Despite the presence of numerous generic time management instruments, relatively few research articles have assessed the validity and reliability of time management skills specific for the nursing profession. This study aimed at developing and validating a time management scale for nurses.Method A self-administered questionnaire was administered to 715 nurses working in hospitals and clinics in the northern region of the West Bank, Palestine. The scale was examined through exploratory factor analysis, reliability measures, and correlations with other scales.Results The scale revealed a 3-factor structure 1) organization of nursing work 2) planning and goal setting and 3) coordination of nursing work. The scale demonstrated excellent psychometric properties.Conclusions The Nursing Time Management Scale (NTMS) is a valid and reliable measure that can be used in assessing time management skills of nurses and in evaluating interventions and training modules aiming at developing nurses' time management skills.
RESUMO
Background: Glaucoma is a serious eye disease that impairs eyesight and negatively impacts quality of life. If left untreated, glaucoma can lead to blindness. This study aims at assessing the quality of life among glaucoma patients in the West Bank (WB) of Palestine and main influencing the factors. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study and included two questionnaires; the Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) and Glaucoma Quality of Life-15 (GQL-15). Data were collected from a systematically randomized 100 glaucoma patients in the WB. ANOVA test was used to compare means of continuous variables at a statistically significant P value ≤ to 0.05. Results: The overall quality of life among glaucoma patients was relatively suboptimal. The analysis revealed that the glaucoma quality of life is worse among older patients (mean=3.55±0.64), patients who are less educated (mean=3.91±0.77), among patients who were unemployed (mean=3.44±0.86), and patients who were treated in private clinics (3.57±0.8). Patients with good health (mean=2.48±0.94), type of glaucoma (close glaucoma; mean=3.22±0.9), less than 5 years duration of glaucoma (mean=2.88±1.13), and less than 5 years duration of cryonic diseases (mean=2.48±0.73 have a better glaucoma quality of life. Conclusions: This study revealed numerous factors that can impact the quality of life of glaucoma patients in WB. Health professionals, specialists, ophthalmologists, and health educators should be aware of how various socioeconomic and general health factors impact the quality of life of glaucoma patients in order to better diagnose, manage, guide, and educate patients for better health outcomes.
