Proposal for management of absenteeism among hospital nurses: a systematic review

Abstract

Objective:

To search the literature for information on interdependent factors influencing absenteeism of hospital nurses using a multicausal perspective analysis and to identify possible management and control actions.

Methods:

This systematic review included publications from 2013 to 2017. We used keywords from databases available at the portal of Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). EndNote^® software was used to manage data, and we followed the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items For Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) method.

Results:

A total of 269 articles were retrieved, and 39 of them met our inclusion criteria. Studies that attributed absenteeism to a number of non-specific reasons accounted for 23.08% of the sample. The organization in work environment was defined as the reason in 20.51% of reports, musculoskeletal disease was the main reasons in 7.69%, and mental and behavioral disorders made up 10.26% of pointed causes. The Burnout syndrome was attributed as the reason for absenteeism in 7.69% of reports; satisfaction in work and psychological aspects accounted for 5.13% each in the studies, and relationship with other members of the nursing team, bullying and resilience, work environment, fatigue and conflicts with patients each were the reason in 2.56% of the studies analyzed in our systematic review.

Conclusion:

Absenteeism must be treated from a multiple, holistic, epidemiologic and prospective perspectives by adoption of organizational, physical and cognitive variables that are compatible with multicausal analyses.

Keywords
Health policy; Hospital; Management; Absenteeism