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Absenteeism – illness of the nursing staff of a university hospital

ABSTRACT

Objective:

to analyze absenteeism - illness of the nursing staff.

Method:

this was a retrospective study of a university hospital in the city of Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, using a quantitative approach. Data were collected from functional records of the staff during the period from 2008 to 2012.

Results:

of 602 workers, 435 had 1574 medical certifi cates. Diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, followed by mental and behavioral disorders were the major diseases for sick leave. The occupation with the highest number of medical certifi cates was the nursing technician. Females and the age group between 41-50 years prevailed in the sample. Ambulatory was the area with most frequent events, followed by the medical clinic and emergency room.

Conclusion:

absenteeism-illness affects the functioning of the service, the nursing staff and users, promoting work overload, and interfering in the quality of nursing care.

Key words:
Absenteeism; Nursing Staff; Workers

RESUMO

Objetivo:

analisar o absenteísmo-doença da equipe de enfermagem.

Método:

estudo retrospectivo, com abordagem quantitativa, realizado em um hospital universitário, localizado no município de Goiânia, Goiás, Brasil. Os dados foram coletados nos dossiês funcionais dos trabalhadores referentes ao período de 2008 a 2012.

Resultados:

dos 602 trabalhadores, 435 apresentaram 1574 atestados médicos. As doenças do sistema osteomuscular e do tecido conjuntivo, seguidas dos transtornos mentais e comportamentais foram as principais causadoras de licenças médicas. A categoria profissional que apresentou maior número de atestados médicos foi a de técnico em enfermagem. Predominou o sexo feminino e a faixa etária de 41 a 50 anos. O ambulatório foi o local com maior frequência, seguido da clínica médica e do Pronto Socorro.

Conclusão:

o absenteísmo-doença compromete o funcionamento do serviço, a equipe de enfermagem e os usuários, promove uma sobrecarga de trabalho e interfere na qualidade da assistência de enfermagem.

Descritores:
Absenteísmo; Equipe de Enfermagem; Trabalhadores

RESUMEN

Objetivo:

analizar el absentismo-enfermedad del personal de enfermería.

Método:

se trata de un estudio retrospectivo, con abordaje cuantitativo de un hospital universitario de la ciudad de Goiânia, Goiás, Brasil. Se recogieron datos sobre expedientes trabajadores funcionales para el período 2008 a 2012.

Resultados:

se encontró que de los 602 trabajadores, 435 tenían 1.574 certificados médicos. Las enfermedades del sistema osteomuscular y del tejido conjuntivo, seguidos por los trastornos mentales y del comportamiento eran las principales enfermedades de la licencia por enfermedad. La ocupación con mayor número de certificados médicos era el técnico de enfermería. Prevaleciente mujeres y el grupo de edad 41-50 anos. El ambulatorio fue el sitio con mayor frecuencia, seguido de la clínica médica y la sala de emergencias.

Conclusión:

el absentismo-enfermedad afecta a la operación del servicio, el personal de enfermería y los usuarios, promueve una sobrecarga de trabajo e interfieren con la calidad de los cuidados de enfermería.

Palabras clave:
Absentismo; Grupo de Enfermería; Trabajadores

INTRODUCTION

In light of the impacts of changing values in the modern, globalized world, the restructuring process that began in the 1990s, the profile of the work and the workers changed to adapt to technological innovations, with new management models of established quality. Along with that an intensifi-cation of work occurred, resulting from the increased pace, responsibilities and complexity of tasks, bringing higher un-employment, informal work, changing forms of work, and the determinants of the health-disease process(1Andrade PS, Cardoso TAO. Prazer e dor na docência: revisão bibliográfica sobre a Síndrome de Burnout. Saúde Soc. 2012;21(1):129-140).

Some activities can trigger anxiety, dissatisfaction, stress, and tension, generating unexcused absences or those justified by medical leave, also known as absenteeism(2Laus AM, Anselmi ML Absences of nursing workers at a teaching hospital. Rev Esc Enferm USP [Internet], 2008 [cited 2014 Sep 04];42(4):681-689. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reeusp/v42n4/en_v42n4a09.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reeusp/v42n4/en...
).

According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), absenteeism is the practice of an employee who does not show up for work for a period of one or more days (or shifts,) when he has been assigned for a day of work(3Oficina Internacional Del Trabajo. Enciclopédia de Salud, Seguridad e Higiene em el trabajo. España: Centro de Publicaciones del Ministerio de Trabajo Y Seguridad Social. 1991;1:5-11).

Absenteeism is considered a problem in all areas of activity because the absence of a worker has negative impacts on the dynamic labor production, causing a shortage of personnel, and consequently quantitatively and qualitatively reducing the pro-duction(3Oficina Internacional Del Trabajo. Enciclopédia de Salud, Seguridad e Higiene em el trabajo. España: Centro de Publicaciones del Ministerio de Trabajo Y Seguridad Social. 1991;1:5-11-4Cooper C, Dewe P. Well-being: absenteeism, presentee-ism, costs and challenges. Occupational Med [Internet], 2008 [cited 2014 Sep 04];58:522-4. Available from: http://occmed.oxfordjournals.Org/content/58/8/522.long
http://occmed.oxfordjournals.Org/content...
). In addition, absenteeism produces financial impacts, causing costs associated with the person himself (benefits, salary); costs associated with managing the problems caused by absenteeism; costs of replacing employees with overtime, hiring sub-stitutes; costs of reduction in the quantity or quality of the work(4Cooper C, Dewe P. Well-being: absenteeism, presentee-ism, costs and challenges. Occupational Med [Internet], 2008 [cited 2014 Sep 04];58:522-4. Available from: http://occmed.oxfordjournals.Org/content/58/8/522.long
http://occmed.oxfordjournals.Org/content...
).

Nursing professionals deserve mention, as they constitute the largest number of workers in the health area in the hospital setting. Nursing is considered a stressful and tense profession, resulting from contact with suffering and death, working in shifts, acceleration of working rhythms, professional versatility, and musculoskeletal effort required to perform the care, etc(5Magnago TSB de S, Lisboa MTL, Griep RH, Kirchhof ALC, Guido L de A. Psychosocial aspects of work and musculoskeletal disorders in nursing workers. Rev Latino-Am Enferm [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2014 Sep 04];18(3):429-435. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v18n3/19.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rlae/v18n3/19.p...
).

It is important to further discussion about absenteeism -ill-ness in the nursing service, understanding its impact on the institutional routine due to the absence of employees by absences justified by medical certificates. Thus, the following questions emerged: how does the phenomenon of absentee-ism-illness present in the context of nursing? What are its at-tributes and characteristics?

The aim of the study was to analyze the absenteeism-illness of nursing team professionals in a university hospital.

METHOD

This was a retrospective study with a quantitative approach, conducted between November of 2008 and October of 2012, in a university hospital in the city of Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil. The in-stitution had 310 beds to attend to users of the Unified Health System (SUS) at low, medium and high complexity of attention levels.

During the study period, the staff consisted of 2,493 workers in different kinds of employment contracts and positions, of whom 989 were permanent staff. Of these, 602 were nursing staff. The data were collected from the files of the nursing team, as follows: 127 nurses, 381 nursing technicians, and 94 nursing assistants.

The sample selected for the study consisted of 435 func-tional dossiers of employees from the nursing team, pertaining to permanent staff of the institution, who had at least one absence from work, justified by a medical excuse during the period of 01/11/2008 to 31 / 10/2012.

The functional dossiers of employees who presented a medical excuse were excluded when the cause of absence was: maternity leave, adoption, dental leave, short-term leave to care for sick relatives, or death of family members, and those employees from the nursing team who resigned to work in another institution during the study period.

The data collection was performed in the Human Resource Management (HRM) and in the Medical Service (MS) during the period from January to June of 2013.

Data were recorded on a form containing the following variables: name, gender, age, area of work, International Clas-sification of Diseases (ICD), position and days of absence. The medical diagnoses were decoded and grouped. Sick leaves were organized based on the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, 10th revision - ICD-10.

The HRM record book provided information on the name, position, area of work, employer and period of absence. In the functional dossiers, the exchange of areas, data from the medical excuse and other medical service documents were investigated.

The duration of absenteeism was calculated in days, from the beginning to end date, according to the medical excuse. The data were presented in absolute and relative frequencies. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences(SPSS) version 18.0 for Windows, was used for analysis. To ensure workers' anonymity, each analyzed dossier received a numerical coding.

The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Clinics Hospital, Federal University of Goiás, and Pro-tocol No 01749412.7.0000.5078. The study was approved by the Office of Personnel Management, Nursing Board and Board of Medical Service of the institution.

RESULTS

Of the 602 staff of the nursing team, 443 (73.6%) had a medical excuse to justify their absence from work; of these, eight functional dossiers were not found, and 435 were analyzed.

Of the 435 workers from the nursing team who had a medical excuse, 92.9% were female, 7.1% male; the age group with the highest number of employees was 41 to 50 years, represent-ing 35.9% of the total. Nursing technician was the category with the highest number of medical excuses (Table 1).

Table 1
Distribution of nursing staff (N = 435), by sex, age and professional category, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, 2014

The pathologies with the highest incidence were the diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, with 310 (19.70%) occurrences, and mental and behavioral disorders with 284 (18.04%) (Table 2).

Table 2
Groups of diseases presented in the medical excuses of nursing staff (N = 435) according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10), Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, 2014

Table 3 presents the major categories of disease that ex-celled in medical excuses, with evidence of back pain, repeti-tive strain injury (RSI), depression, bipolar disorder and stress.

Table 3
Major categories of diseases presented in the medical excuses of nursing staff (N = 435), according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD 10), Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, 2014

Table 4 presents the workplace in which the nursing staff personnel were working when they were absent due to illness.

Table 4
Distribution of medical excuses (N = 1574) by professional category and services, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil, 2014

The age group of employees of the departments with the highest number of medical excuses was those with ages between 51 - 60 years, from the ambulatory area, professionals of the medical clinic at 41 years old and from emergency room at 50 years.

DISCUSSION

This study shows the predominance of absenteeism in women, with 92.9% of cases, justified by the fact that the nursing worker profile is formed predominantly by women. During the four years studied, 73.6% of the professionals absent from work presented medical excuses related to illness reasons.

The absenteeism in females is also influenced by the fact that most of women in the labor market are responsible for domestic activities and caring for children. They usually ar-rive tired to work because of the tasks performed at home, are sick more frequently, and miss more days of work(7Campos EC, Juliani CMCM, Palhares VC. [Absenteeism in the nursing team at the emergency unit of a university hospital]. Rev Eletr Enferm [Internet] 2009 [cited 2014 Sep 04]; 11(2):295-302. Available from: https://www.fen.ufg.br/fen_revista/v11/n2/v11n2a09.htm Portuguese.
https://www.fen.ufg.br/fen_revista/v11/n...
). Recent studies report that women seek health services 1.9 times more than men(8Levorato CD, Mello LM, Silva AS, Nunes AA. [Factors associated with the demand for health services from a gender-relational perspective]. Cien Saúde Colet [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2014 Sep 04];19(4):1263-1274. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/csc/v19n4/1413-8123-csc-19-04-01263.pdf Portuguese.
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/csc/v19n4/1413-...
).

The data demonstrate that regardless of sex, the greater frequency of sick-leave was in the age group from 41 to 50 years (35.9%), followed by those between 31-40 years (30.3%). Approximately 59.5% of workers who presented medical excuses were over 40 years old.

A study was performed with municipal workers in Goiânia, from 2005 to 2010, with a professional staff of 28,230 employees, of which 47.5% had at least one medical leave in the period:, 40,578 sick leaves were registered for health treatment provided to 13,408 workers, who were absent for 944,722 days. The profile of the absent workers related to the first sick leave was characterized by a predominance of women (52.0%), older than 40 years (55.9%)(9Leão ALM, Barbosa-Branco A, Rassi Neto E, Ribeiro CAN, Turchi MD. Sickness absence in a municipal public service of Goiânia, Brazil. Rev Bras Epidemiol[Internet]. 2015 [cited 2014 Sep 04]; 18(1):262-72. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbepid/v18n1/en_1415-790X-rbepid-18-01-00262.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbepid/v18n1/en...
).

Nursing technicians and assistants were the professionals who had more medical excuses, accounting for 81% of all workers from the nursing team. This finding is alarming because these professionals represent the largest contingent of the nursing team workforce. Their absences compromise the care given, and consequently disrupt the team by generating overload activities for other workers.

The higher rate of absenteeism among nursing technicians and assistants may be related to the lower remuneration, less demand for scientific and technical education, and the greater need for physical effort in the execution of patient care(1010 Sancinetti TR, Gaidzinski RR, Felli VEA, Fugulin FMT, Baptista PCP, Ciampone MHT, Kurcgant P, Silva FJ. Absenteeism - disease in the nursing staff: relationship with the occupation tax. Rev Esc Enferm USP [Internet]. 2009 [cited 2014 Sep 04];43(Esp.2):1272-83. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reeusp/v43nspe2/en_a23v43s2.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reeusp/v43nspe2...
).

The main diseases responsible for absence from work of the nursing staff were diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, with 310 medical excuses (19.70%), followed by mental and behavioral disorders with 284 (4.18%).

The World Health Organization (WHO) designated the decade of 2000 to 2010 as the decade of bone and joint, due to the increasing number of musculoskeletal diseases and injuries that affect the world's population. It is estimated that by the year 2015, these would be the causes of increased spending within healthcare, and one of the most frequent reasons for labor absenteeism and permanent disability(1111 Organização Mundial da Saúde (OMS). Década do Osso e da Articulação: movimento articular, 2000/2010 - [Internet] 2013[cited 2014 Sep 04]. Available from: http://bjdonline.org/.
http://bjdonline.org/...
).

A study performed with nurses of Ibadan, in the south-west of Nigeria, showed that 84.4% had work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) one or more times in their professional lives. Nurses with more than 20 years of clinical experience were about four times more likely to develop WMSDs than those with 11 to 20 years of experience(1212 Tinubu BM, Mbada CE, Oyeyemi AL, Fabunmi AA. Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders among Nurses in Ibadan, South-west Nigeria: a cross-sectional survey. BMC Musculoskelet Disord [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2014 Sep 04]; 11(12):1-8. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2823665/pdf/1471-2474-11-12.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...
).

Due to the characteristics of the work performed by the nursing staff, and the great risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders, it is necessary to improve the working environment in order to alleviate risks to the health of these workers.

The second type of disease presented in this study as responsible for the absence of the workers was mental and behavioral disorders (MBD, with 284 (18.4%) cases. The depressive episodes, bipolar disorders and stress were the most common.

As for mental illness, mood disorders accounted for most of the absences. These results confirm other studies that show depressive problems as a major cause of absentee-ism(9Leão ALM, Barbosa-Branco A, Rassi Neto E, Ribeiro CAN, Turchi MD. Sickness absence in a municipal public service of Goiânia, Brazil. Rev Bras Epidemiol[Internet]. 2015 [cited 2014 Sep 04]; 18(1):262-72. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbepid/v18n1/en_1415-790X-rbepid-18-01-00262.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/rbepid/v18n1/en...
,1313 Koopmans PC, Bultmann U, Roelen CAM, Hoedeman R, Van Der Klink JJL, Groothoff JW. Recurrence of sickness absence due to common mental disorders. International Archives. Occupational Environmental Health [Internet]. 2011 [cited 2014 Sep 04];84(2):193-201. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3020308/pdf/420_2010_Article_540.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...
). The majority of the studied population engaged in the provision of direct care within public health. This activity is characterized by high psychological demands, with low social support and control over the work, associated with an increased risk of sick-leave due to psychiatric disorders.

The MBD are among the main factors related to absenteeism in the European Union, especially cases of depres-sion and anxiety associated with stress disorders. In a cohort study with 9904 workers in Denmark, an increased risk of absenteeism recurring in the group of employees with previous episodes of absenteeism due to MBD was observed(1313 Koopmans PC, Bultmann U, Roelen CAM, Hoedeman R, Van Der Klink JJL, Groothoff JW. Recurrence of sickness absence due to common mental disorders. International Archives. Occupational Environmental Health [Internet]. 2011 [cited 2014 Sep 04];84(2):193-201. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3020308/pdf/420_2010_Article_540.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles...
).

The nursing professional coexists constantly with pain, suffering and death. These conditions can lead them to develop psychiatric disorders. The relationship between stress and work demonstrates that the human being is faced with a professional world that often requires more than her capac-ity in contemporary society. This fact generates a constant state of stress among workers; this is occupational stress. Diseases emerge when the individual's capacity to respond to work in a healthy way runs out. Stress is recognized as one of the most serious risks to an individual's psychosocial well-being(1414 Salvador RSP, Silva BASA, Lisboa MTL. Stress at the nursing staff from the fire department in a mobile pre-hospital care. Esc Anna Nery [Internet]. 2013 [cited 2014 Sep 04];17(2):361-368. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v17n2/v17n2a22.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/ean/v17n2/v17n2...
).

In mapping the areas in which absenteeism -illness occurred, the ambulatory area appeared as the place with the highest number of absences, with 201 (12.8%) cases. Al-though the ambulatory area is considered to be one in which less physical effort is required from the worker, this result can be explained by the fact that this is the hospital area to which the workers with restrictions on activities at work are relocated. During the survey period, workers located at the outpatient clinic, who had sick leave, were mostly older than 51 years of age. They previously performed unhealthy activities, such as manipulation of substances, specialized tests and other procedures.

The second and third places with a significant percentage of sick-leave were the medical clinic, with 177 (11.2%), and the emergency room, with 143 (9.1%) cases. These areas require great physical effort from the worker, such as a large number of activities, presence of dependent patients, and daily contact with death, causing physical and emotional distress(7Campos EC, Juliani CMCM, Palhares VC. [Absenteeism in the nursing team at the emergency unit of a university hospital]. Rev Eletr Enferm [Internet] 2009 [cited 2014 Sep 04]; 11(2):295-302. Available from: https://www.fen.ufg.br/fen_revista/v11/n2/v11n2a09.htm Portuguese.
https://www.fen.ufg.br/fen_revista/v11/n...
).

One study(7Campos EC, Juliani CMCM, Palhares VC. [Absenteeism in the nursing team at the emergency unit of a university hospital]. Rev Eletr Enferm [Internet] 2009 [cited 2014 Sep 04]; 11(2):295-302. Available from: https://www.fen.ufg.br/fen_revista/v11/n2/v11n2a09.htm Portuguese.
https://www.fen.ufg.br/fen_revista/v11/n...
) reported that the areas that showed the highest medical leave rates were: medical clinic and ICU. These differences can be explained by job characteristics of these units. The environment is tense, with the management of intense and painful situations that may contribute to physical, chemical and psychological disorders. This increases the risk of health problems and sick leave.

According to a study performed in the ICU(1515 Abreu RMD, Gonçalves RMDA, Simões ALA. [Reasons attributed by professionals of an Intensive Care Unit for the absence at work]. Rev Bras Enferm [Internet]. 2014 [cited 2014 Sep 04];67(3):386-93. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v67n3/0034-7167-reben-67-03-0386.pdf Portuguese.
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reben/v67n3/003...
)-the work in hos-pitals is characterized by exposure to physical and emotional exhaustion, due to daily contact with the anguish and the suf-fering of clients and family members. This was realized as a contributing factor to the absenteeism of nursing staff.

It is essential that health professionals, especially nurses, as they are professionals who lead the teams, seek measures focused on the prevention of absenteeism. Knowing the work environment may contribute to the implementation of preven-tive actions for the health of workers, reducing the physical, psychological and social suffering and costs(1616 Souza AS, Ferreira LHF, Valente GSC, Silva AH. Occupational diseases: absenteeism for the prevalence of pain in the musculoskeletal system in nursing professionals working in the surgical Center. J Nurs. UFPE [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2014 Sep 04];4(4):1669-74. Available from: http://www.revista.ufpe.br/revistaenfermagem/index.php/revista/article/viewArticle/1081
http://www.revista.ufpe.br/revistaenferm...
).

The promotion of activities in educational work must be conducted under nursing leadership, focusing on prevention and aimed at increasing the awareness of professionals. Encourage-ment in new life habits should be given, through preventive lectures, and labor planning exercises in the workplace, with the help of a professional physical educator. Some rest may be imposed on activities, and interventions implemented in the workplace for possible risks. The team's physical and emotional well-being in the workplace is an assignment of the leader(1616 Souza AS, Ferreira LHF, Valente GSC, Silva AH. Occupational diseases: absenteeism for the prevalence of pain in the musculoskeletal system in nursing professionals working in the surgical Center. J Nurs. UFPE [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2014 Sep 04];4(4):1669-74. Available from: http://www.revista.ufpe.br/revistaenfermagem/index.php/revista/article/viewArticle/1081
http://www.revista.ufpe.br/revistaenferm...
).

Another strategy referred to in the literature is the use of alternative practices and measures to relieve stress. Acupunc-ture and auriculotherapy are some of these techniques indi -cated by their practitioners as producing a good effect with a positive therapeutic outcome. Among the benefits of these techniques is the reduction of anxiety, stress and a significant improvement in generalized anxiety disorders(1717 Kurebayashi LFS, Gnatta JR, Borges TP, Belisse G, Coca S, Minami A, Souza TM, Silva MJP. The applicability of auriculotherapy with needles or seeds to reduce stress in nursing professionals. Rev Esc Enferm USP [Internet]. 2012 [cited 2014 Sep 04];46(1):89-95. Available from: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reeusp/v46n1/en_v46n1a12.pdf
http://www.scielo.br/pdf/reeusp/v46n1/en...
).

This study is an important instrument for planning the actions of the teams of the Integrated Subsystem of Attention to the Health of the Federal Public Servers (SIASSJ. Its objec-tives are to organize actions and health promotion programs, prevention of diseases, and monitoring the health of federal employees, aimed at health care(1818 Brasil, Presidência da República - Casa Civil. 2009, Decreto n° 6833 de 29/04/2009. Brasília: DOU; 30/04/2009 [Internet]. 2009 [cited 2014 Sep 04] Available from: http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2007-2010/2009/Decreto/D6833.htm
http://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_At...
). The actions of the SIASS units are already highlighted in the literature(1919 Ricarta S, Vidala M, Bonfattia RJ. Evaluation and control of ergonomics actions in federal public service: the case of FIOCRUZ - RJ. Work [Internet]. 2012 [cited 2014 Sep 04]; 41(Suppl 1):532-8. Available from: http://content.iospress.com/articles/work/wor0208
http://content.iospress.com/articles/wor...
).

CONCLUSION

This study found that the health of the nursing staff is com-promised, as 73.6% of them presented medical excuses for illness. The professionals with more than 40 years of age were predominant, with a prevalence of musculoskeletal system diseases, mental and behavioral disorders. The more frequent categories of diseases were dorsalgia, depression episodes, recurrent depressive disorder, and bipolar affective disorder. Because of the specificity of local management, the ambulatory presented the highest absenteeism rates. The results en-able recommendation of strategies of care for the workers of the institution, which may be applicable to other institutions and providers of health services.

Some important measures for overcoming the analyzed scenario are: identifying the risks inherent in the workplace environment and establishing preventive interventions; creat-ing a labor workplace gymnasium/wellness center; providing therapeutic support to the professionals; performing periodic meetings with psychology professionals in order to discuss, reflect and better understand the process of distress and death experienced in the workplace; performing an ergonomic study of the workplace, focusing on planning and implementation of preventive measures.

The results show indicators of weaknesses in the working world that will allow managers to establish actions to com-bat diseases involving absenteeism, and therefore positively impact its reduction. Moreover, it can contribute to the dis-cussion of ethical and professional implications of the daily practices of the nursing team, and strategies for confronting the challenges imposed by the work process.

The hospital institutions usually focus their priority on pa-tient care, often forgetting the health professionals who per-form the work. It is important to adopt health policies and actions aimed toward the worker, ensuring the promotion of health and prevention of occupational diseases, in order to guarantee the quality of care provided to patients.

  • How to cite this article:
    Marques DO, Pereira MS, Souza ACS, Vila VSC, Almeida CCOF, Oliveira EC. Absenteeism – illness of the nursing staff of a university hospital. Rev Bras Enferm. 2015;68(5):594-600.

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    Sep-Oct 2015

History

  • Received
    04 Sept 2014
  • Accepted
    09 July 2015
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