Research pick: Remedy needed for nursing no-shows - "Absenteeism among nurses: costs, working conditions, and related factors"

Nursing staff represent the heart of any healthcare system, but when they are absent, the impact on the quality of care and productivity can be significant and costly. New research in the International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management has looked at the implications for a university hospital of absenteeism among nurses.

Emad Adel Shdaifat and Najla Mohd Al-Ansari of the College of Nursing at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Main Naser Alolayyan of Jordan University of Science and Technology in Irbid Jordan, and Najla Mohd Al-Ansari of the Department of Nursing at King Fahd Hospital of the University in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, investigated the likely causes and frequencies of absenteeism among nurses. They found that minor illnesses and fatigue due to work overload were the most common reasons for absence. They determined that nurses who worked the A-shift (usually the first shift of the day beginning early morning and ending in the late afternoon or early evening) had children, worked in an intensive care unit were more frequent absentees. A common factor among them in terms of their own health being that they have a normal body mass index (BMI).

The results of this study highlight the need for healthcare organizations to invest in better working conditions for nurses, such as reducing workload and providing support for nurses with children. By doing so, the team suggests that university, or teaching, hospitals could reduce absenteeism and ultimately improve the quality of life for their nurses as well as patient care.

The findings come at a time when healthcare workers, including nurses, are demanding better working conditions and fair pay. The impact of absenteeism on productivity and patient care is one of the many factors driving this industrial action given that staff feeling pressure and becoming ill because of work overload are likely to take time off beyond their usual leave allowance. At this stage, more research is needed to improve our understanding of the relationship between absenteeism and the various factors affecting their working and personal lives of healthcare staff.

Shdaifat, E.A., Alolayyan, M.N., Rosario, A.B. and Al-Ansari, N.M. (2023) ‘Absenteeism among nurses: costs, working conditions, and related factors’, Int. J. Productivity and Quality Management, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp.518–544.