title: Determination of nurses' mental workloads using subjective methods.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To adapt the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index scale into Turkish, to determine the nurses' mental workload using subjective methods and to identify the factors affecting the mental workloads of nurses.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  As the concept of safety gains prominence in healthcare services, the determination of employees' mental workloads using subjective methods is considered important in preventing errors caused by employees.
  
  
  METHODS
  Methodological and descriptive design.
  
  
  METHODS
  The population of the study consisted of a total of 1900 nurses working at three hospitals and a dentistry faculty hospital affiliated with a public university in Istanbul. The sample of the study consisted of 1266 nurses who agreed to participate in the study (the rate of return was 66·6%). Language and content validity and reliability measurements were performed to adapt the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index into Turkish, which was used as the data collection tool.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was found that the mean total mental workload score of the nurses was 80·48 (SD 11·76), and the weighted score of mental workload was 83·7. While the highest mean score was obtained on the subscale of mental demand (88·08, SD 16·12), the lowest mean score was obtained on the subscale of frustration (54·52, SD 29·96). The mean total mental workload score of the nurses showed a significant difference according to the units in which the nurses worked.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The mean mental workload scores of nurses working at hospitals within the scope of the study were higher than the results of other studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is recommended that nurse managers perform mental workload measurements of nurses and compare the results with the quality indicators observed in units to determine and employ a labour force that is qualified for the profession and that may benefit more effectively from human resources.
authors.affiliation: Nursing Administration Department, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Betül
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sönmez
authors.affiliation: Nursing Administration Department, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine Hospital, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Zeynep
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Oğuz
authors.affiliation: Department of Midwifery, School of Health Sciences, Halic University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Leman
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kutlu
authors.affiliation: Nursing Administration Department, Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Aytolan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yıldırım
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology*; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009738:Nursing Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014421:Turkey; D016526:Workload / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: National Aeronautics and Space Administration-Task Load Index; Turkey; hospital; mental workload; nurses