Time Management Attitudes of Health Care Workers Employed in the Ambulance Service in Turkey

Abstract

Introduction Health care workers employed in the ambulance service should minimize their response time when responding to a medical emergency. Prehospital emergency medical services operate on a 24-h basis; hence, time management in both the work and social lives of the staff is more difficult than in other occupational groups. In the case of emergency health services, time management is no doubt the most important aspect in terms of human health. The purpose of this research was to examine the time management skills and influencing factors of health care workers employed in the ambulance service. Methods In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire containing time management inventory (TMI) and demographics was applied. In the analysis of the data, the number, chi square, percentage, and t test were applied using SPSS statistical software. Results Of those who participated in the survey, 57.8% were male, 86.2% were working at the emergency medical service station, and 49.9% were paramedics. The average TMI was 70.49. In the time-consumption subdimension of the survey, when the genders of the health care workers who were employed in the ambulance service were compared, there was a statistically significant difference according to education status for the total time management. Conclusion A statistically significant difference was observed with regards to education status for the total time management according to gender for the time loss subdimension of the healthcare workers employed in the ambulance service. This research concluded that males working in the ambulance service managed their use of time better than the females, and that high school graduates used their time better than the undergraduates.