Transforming nursing education: the power of educational leadership in optimizing time management and competency.

Background: Effective time management and nursing competence are crucial for nursing students' academic and professional success. Educational leadership may play a mediating role in strengthening the relationship between time management skills and nursing competence. However, limited research has examined this potential mediation in the nursing education context in Egypt.

Aim: To investigate the mediating role of educational leadership in the relationship between time management and nursing competence among undergraduate nursing students.

Methods: A descriptive comparative cross-sectional study was conducted, involving a sample of 532 undergraduate nursing students selected using systematic random sampling. Data collection tools included the Educational Leadership Scale for Nursing Students, the Nurse Competence Scale, and the Student Time Management Scale. All instruments were translated into Arabic and validated for the study population. Data were analyzed using correlation and mediation analysis to assess the relationships between variables.

Results: The study revealed that nursing students' educational leadership is strongly associated with both their competencies (r = .504, P < .001) and time management skills (r = .238, P < .001), while competencies also showed a moderate positive correlation with time management (r = .394, P < .001). Age, academic year, and family income were significantly associated with differences in educational leadership, competencies, and time management. Moreover, structural equation modeling showed that time management had a significant direct effect on both educational leadership (B = 0.411, P < .001) and competencies (B = 0.024, P < .001), while educational leadership significantly influenced competencies (B = 0.48, P < .001). Importantly, educational leadership mediated the indirect effect of time management on competencies (B = 0.567, P < .001).

Conclusion: Educational leadership plays a mediating role in the relationship between time management and nursing competence, highlighting the importance of leadership development in nursing education programs. Nursing curricula should incorporate leadership training to improve students' time management skills and competencies, ultimately enhancing their preparedness for professional practice.

Implication: Nursing curricula should prioritize the integration of leadership development and time management skills into both theoretical coursework and clinical practice. To achieve this, actionable leadership training strategies could include the implementation of structured leadership workshops and seminars that focus on key competencies such as communication, decision-making, conflict resolution, and team management.

Clinical trial number: Not applicable.