Antecedents and associations of sickness presenteeism and sickness absenteeism in nurses: A systematic review

Abstract

The ability to predict presenteeism and absenteeism in nursing is useful to constrain costs and ensure that quality care is delivered.

Nurse absenteeism: An analysis of trends and perceptions of nurse unit managers

“…Contrary to respondents’ view that absenteeism is more common on Fridays and Mondays, the statistics revealed Wednesdays and Thursdays as the days with higher incidence of absenteeism. Weekends saw the lowest absenteeism rates, possibly due to the financial incentive given for working during weekends, or fear of losing this income, as well as the availability of family members to care for children (Brborovic, Daka, Dakaj, & Brborovic, ). However, lower absenteeism during weekend days may shift absenteeism to weekdays, and mid‐week absenteeism may perhaps be fatigue related.…”

“…Weekends saw the lowest absenteeism rates, possibly due to the financial incentive given for working during weekends, or fear of losing this income, as well as the availability of family members to care for children (Brborovic, Daka, Dakaj, & Brborovic, 2017). However, lower absenteeism during weekend days may shift absenteeism to weekdays, and mid-week absenteeism may perhaps be fatigue related.…”

“…This is supported by the literature, where fatigue is prevalent among nurses who undertake shift work or who undertake long shifts (Batak, Gvozdenovic, Bokan, & Bokan, 2013). Further, overscheduling, overtime, fatigue, and burnout relate to nurse absenteeism (Baydoun et al, 2016;Boamah & Laschinger, 2015;Brborovic et al, 2017). Shift work and unsociable working hours have been recognized widely in the nursing literature as linking to absenteeism (Baydoun et al, 2016;Brborovic et al, 2017;Daouk-Öyry, et al, 2014;Ha, 2015).…”

Presenteeism: Nurse perceptions and consequences

“…Presenteeism rates due to both sickness and job‐stress in nursing are higher than rates in other job sectors (e.g., finance) (Aronsson, Gustafsson, & Dallner, ; Rainbow, Gilbreath, & Steege, ). Previous studies of nurse presenteeism have focused on quantifying the prevalence and consequences of presenteeism (Brborović, Daka, Dakaj, & Brborović, ; Letvak et al, ). However, nurses have not previously been asked to explain in their own words what would contribute to their presenteeism and what they believe are the related consequences.…”

Presenteeism as a predictor of disability pension: A prospective study among nursing professionals and care assistants in Sweden

“…Most of these studies focused on factors specifically related to the professional role of health care personnel and on replacement difficulties (ie, impact of perceptions on how easily missed work due to sickness absence could be made up for) that may explain relatively high rates of sickness presence in these occupations. More recently, a systematic review of presenteeism among health care employees has revealed that a wider variety of explanatory factors can contribute to the prevalence of presenteeism, such as psychosocial working conditions, employment conditions, and conditions related to sickness insurance . According to a Dutch study, there was also an indication that job demands and burnout exhibited a substantial longitudinal relationship with presenteeism among nurses …”