Absence from work in two Halifax hospitals

Abstract

The present study investigated grade, marital status, age, length of service, shift and type of ward, in relation to short (1-2 days) and long (3 or more days) term absence levels in the nursing profession. Employee personnel records, for 678 nursing personnel, were obtained from two hospitals. Each individual absence was recorded noting the day of the week, month of occurrence, length of the absence and the type of shift. In addition, 40 subjects participated in answering an interview checklist regarding reasons why absences occurred. As predicted the total and short term absences decreased with increased levels of skill although the number of long term absences generally did not increase with increased grade levels. For marital status, the divorced group obtained the highest overall absence levels, comprised mainly of long term absences. As age increased the number of short term absences decreased and the number of long term absences increased. The number of short term absences decreased as the length of service increased, although a covariate analyses did not support these results. Long term absences were more prevalent for workers with a longer tenure than for workers with a shorter length of service, within one hospital only. The 8 hour shift cycle produced more overall absences with the duration of each absence being longer than the 12 hour shift cycle. The day shifts for both cycles had the most absences with Mondays producing the most absences for the 8 hour cycle and Fridays for the 12 hour cycle. Wards considered stressful had shorter absence levels and fewer long term absences when compared to all other wards. “Serious domestic problems” was the most frequently given response to why absences occurred. It was concluded that it is useful to make a distinction between short and long term absences within the general definition of absence.