Research Plus

Nurses’ work-related sickness absence

A national cross-sectional survey of 11,762 female direct-care nurses in Canada finds that the sickness absence duration is better explained by considering worker and workplace factors in combination rather than in isolation. Worker health variables – pain-related work interference, work-related pain, and depression – explain 30% of the total variance in absence duration. Workplace factors alone explain 7% of the absence variance, with emotional abuse or physical abuse from patients/visitors having the biggest impact on total absence duration. Adding workplace to worker factors explains 33% of the absence variance.

Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2011 53(8): 919–927.

Tags absence evidence based practice sickness absence

Occupational Health at Work October/November 2011 (vol. 08/3) pp40