Introduction: Absenteeism is a phenomenon that describes absence at work and is measured as a frequency of missing days at work. It is directly related to consequences such as nursing staff shortage, low employees morale and disruptions in continuity of patient care. Causes of absenteeism are often attributed to mental disorders. In nursing manifestations of mental problems are often caused by the nature of work and working conditions. Methods: In this paper, a descriptive methodology with literature review in Slovenian and English language has been used. Union bibliographic database COBBISS and CINAHL, Medline (PubMed), Cochrane and Springerlink databases have been searched. Results: Many researchers have been studying risk factors which cause and/or influence the absenteeism in nursing. The causes for absenteeism are expected to be overload of work, excessive work demands and job dissatisfaction. Also, depression, anxiety and stress are expected to be recognized as the most frequent mental problems. Discussion: Based on previous findings guidelines for further research on mental health among nurses in Slovenia will be presented.