Presenteeism: analysis of the phenomenon in a sample of Portuguese nurses (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate which sociodemographic variables (age, gender, educational qualifications, organization, seniority in the organization, seniority in the role, employment relationship, work regime and professional category) are best related to presenteeism. Materials and methods: The study presented is quantitative, descriptive-correlational, cross-sectional and retrospective. The sample is probabilistic and the universe included all approximately 67 thousand nurses who work in Portuguese health institutions, whether public, private or public-private partnerships. The inclusion criteria were nurses with clinical and/or management activity in institutions in the aforementioned modalities, and nurses working in teaching activities in higher education institutions, on an exclusive basis, were excluded from this study. Two scales were applied to assess presenteeism, the SPS-6 and the WLQ-8. Results: The majority of nurses who responded to the questionnaire are female (86.8%), aged 40 or over (59.9%), graduates (65.6%), who live in the northern region of the country (31.4%), who work in public organizations (85.5%), in differentiated health care units (52.6%), with a contractual employment contract in public functions (63.7%). 53.3% of participants are specialist nurses and 72.4% of respondents had no previous illness. The variables that best correlated with presenteeism were the female gender, since the results obtained point to higher values of avoided distraction in the female gender, the organization where they work (public), where the values obtained are higher in the completed work dimension ( SPS-6) and in the overall SPS-6 scale and the presence of a previous disease condition, with statistically significant results being obtained for the dimensions work completed, distraction avoided and in the overall WLQ-8 Scale.

Conclusion: The results presented may constitute a challenge for change for policy makers, managers and health professionals, in order to address presenteeism with the creation of occupational health programs aimed at the needs of nurses. Other measures include flexible working hours, work policies that promote employee retention, and a strong commitment to training and training nurses to ensure better performance and involvement in the organizational culture.