The purpose of this study was to explore the management skills of the head nurse and to compare the differences between the head nurse's and staff nurse's perception of the head nurse's managements skills. The convenience sample consisted of head nurses who had been working for more than one year and their nurses from ten regional hospitals in Taipei. The Management Skills Scale (MSS), which was developed by the researchers, was used to assess the head nurse's management skills. Five hundred questionnaires were sent out with a return rate of 87.4%9(n=437). The major findings of this study were as follows: (1) The mean of the head nurse's perceptions of her own management skills was 3.92, and the mean of staff nurse's perceptions was 3.95. (2) Head nurses' marital status, work unit, training of nursing administration, and age were significantly related to their perceptions of their of their management skills. (3) There were significant differences between head nurses' and staff nurses' perceptions of head nurses' management skills on nine items This study has provided several implications for nursing administration and continuing education for nursing administrators.