Objective To investigate the current status of time management disposition, occupational strain, and sleep quality in married female nurses in tertiary hospitals and to analyze the mediating effect of occupational strain between time management disposition and sleep quality.

Methods From November 2023 to February 2024, 380 married female nurses from five tertiary hospitals in Beijing were selected by convenience sampling method. Data were collected using general information questionnaires, the Time Management Disposition Scale (TMD), the China Occupational Strain Scale (COSS), and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). Correlations among scale scores were analyzed. AMOS 24.0 software was used to construct and validate a hypothetical mediation model of occupational strain between time management disposition and sleep quality. The bias-corrected bootstrap method was employed to test the significance of the mediating effect.

Results A total of 354 valid questionnaires were recovered with a valid recovery rate of 93.15%. The scores of married female nurses were (149.44 ±28.80) for time management disposition, (38.89 ±9.36) for occupational strain, and (13.04 ±3.75) for sleep quality. Higher time management disposition scores and lower occupational strain and sleep quality scores were associated with older age, longer nursing experience, higher education level, better physical health, shorter overtime hours, permanent employment status, and no children or night shift work (all P < 0.05). Time management disposition was negatively correlated with both occupational strain and sleep quality scores (r = -0.587, -0.675, both P < 0.01), while occupational strain was positively correlated with sleep quality scores (r = 0.682, P < 0.01). Occupational strain exhibited a partial mediating effect between time management disposition and sleep quality, with a mediating effect value of -0.234, accounting for 38.6% of the total effect.

Conclusions Married female nurses of top tertiary general hospitals in Beijing demonstrated poor sleep quality. Time management disposition directly affected sleep quality and indirectly influenced it through occupational strain. Nursing managers should strengthen time management training for married female nurses to reduce their occupational strain, improve sleep quality, and promote their physical and mental health.