A performance comparison between the subjective workload analysis technique and the NASA-TLX in a healthcare setting

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn recent years, healthcare organizations in the United States have been looking for methods to improve the efficiency of their processes and use of human resources. Many organizations have adapted tools and concepts to understand and evaluate nurses' performance and workload. Workload is defined as a dynamic balance between task demands and the individual's response. Two notable perceptual workload measuring tools, the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) and Subjective Workload Analysis Technique (SWAT), were used to assess workload of nurses at an infusion area of a cancer clinic. The objective was to compare the performance of both tools in this setting. Given that both tools were developed under different constructs, this research also explored nonlinear relationships between the dimensions of NASA-TLX with respect to the total score of SWAT and vice versa. Multi Adaptive Regression Spines (MARS) was used for nonparametric and nonlinear regression analysis method. The results show that, for this setting, NASA-TLX can be used to predict the result of the C-SWAT; however, the reverse is not true. The results show that C-SWAT fails to include the dimensions of performance and frustration. This research will improve the process of selecting an appropriate workload measuring tool in healthcare settings.