Study of absenteeism as a variable in nursing human resources planning

Abstract

The study of absenteeism in Nursing is an important item that subsidizes planning and adjusting human resources, regarding the continuity of nursing labor 24 hours a day in a hospital. Absenteeism is the absence from work at moments workers should be regularly executing their duties. We identified an absenteeism rate and also caracterized the kinds of absences from work among nursing personell in surgical wards of a University Hospital. This investigative study had a quantitave, qualitative and retrospective aspect. Data were obtained from January to December of 1998. Results showed 29.63% of absences on that period. This total is composed by 23.28% of predictable absences and 6.35% of non-predictable absences as an ind-ex of calculated absenteeism.