ract Background: Nursing work overloads are key job stressors of nurses in a variety of care settings. Nurses that experience work related strain may not be able to perform efficiently and effectively. Perceived increased nursing workload is associated with extended consequences for nurse, patient and organization. Nurses' performance requires effective knowledge and good management for achieving patient safety goals and in providing nursing care with caring values. Aim: to assess perceived nursing workload and nurses' job task and its contextual performance. Subjects and Method: Setting: El Santa Central Hospital. Subject: (n=300) nurses working full time at El Santa Central Hospital. Tools: Tool I: Job performance self-administrated report. Tool II: Nursing workload scale. Results: Over quarter 26.5%, 30.8% and 42.7% respectively of nurses showed high, moderate and low overall task and contextual performance. As 31%of nurses have overall high task performance and 22% have high contextual performance Majority (75.5%) of nurses perceived high level of total nursing work overload. High significant positive correlation found between perceived nursing work overload and overall job task and contextual performance. Conclusion: Nurses at El Santa central hospital are at low and moderate levels of nursing task and contextual performance with perceived high level of unit, job and task nursing work overload. There was high significant positive correlation between nurses perceived nursing workload and overall job task and contextual performance. Recommendation: Head nurses have to provide balanced schedule of shift work and support provision for nurses. Educational training program was required for head nurses about supervision management. Head nurses required to support nurses to raise their self-confidence