Workload and Performance of Nurses: A Study of Nurses in Selected Medical Facilities in Ghana

Abstract

The apparent heavy workload on hospital nurses has become a major problem for the health care system given that nurses are the backbone of every health care system. This study examined the relationship between nurses' workload and their performance using a sample of one hundred and eight (108) conveniently sampled clinical nurses from two teaching hospitals in Ghana. The Six Dimension Scale of Nursing Performance and the modified Safe Quest inventory were used to collect data. Results indicated a weak correlation between workload and the performance of nurses. In addition, sex difference, age-range, and level of education did not influence nurses' workload. Both male and female nurses also had similar levels of performance. It also emerged that nurses had heavy workload, but were still able to put up their best performance. It was concluded that, even though nurses' workload is high, it does little to negatively affect their performance.