Presenteeism in nurses: comparative study of Spanish, Portuguese and Brazilian nurses

Abstract

Aim: To compare presenteeism levels among three samples of nurses and to identify the relationship between presenteeism and sociodemographic and professional characteristics. Background: Presenteeism (going to work ill) is a phenomenon studied from different perspectives, and it has become especially important during the current COVID-19 outbreak; its connection to high healthcare costs, patient safety breaches and negative nurse well-being has been proved. Introduction: The nursing profession is particularly associated with caring for the culture of teamwork, loyalty to colleagues and professional identity. This condition enhances the 'super nurse phenomenon', even though nurses do not feel physically and psychologically able to work. Methods: A multicentre, cross-sectional study was conducted in three different country contexts: Oviedo (Spain), Porto (Portugal) and São Paulo (Brazil). Nurses performing functions in hospitals and primary health care were enrolled. Informed consent and data collection questionnaires were hand delivered. The Stanford Presenteeism Scale-6 was applied. Results: A total of 659 nurses participated. Portuguese nurses showed greater prevalence of presenteeism, followed by Brazilian and Spanish nurses. Younger nurses with less professional experience presented lower levels of presenteeism but greater psychological commitment. Male participants showed lower capacity to complete work when ill than female participants. Conclusions: Age and length of professional experience proved to be significant predictors of total presenteeism, although only professional experience revealed statistical significance in the adjusted model. Implications for Nursing and Health Policy: The knowledge of this phenomenon among nurses highlights the need for the development of strategies in the curriculum of nursing students and organizations. Resilience and ergonomic training should be applied in the training programmes of the students and reinforced by the health centre managers. It is essential that healthcare systems design worksite wellness programmes that pursue greater physical and mental well-being for healthcare professionals.

Perceptions and experiences of nurses about their performance in the COVID-19 pandemic

“…Os enfermeiros são profissionais essenciais que asseguram os cuidados na linha de frente da CO-VID-19, em contextos laborais já em si caracterizados por excesso de carga de trabalho, ritmos de trabalho elevados e déficit de recursos humanos e materiais (11) . Emerge neste período o desconhecimento de uma nova doença, a preocupação de contraí-la e transmitir à família (2,7,12) .…”

“…Resultados estes que corroboram os achados da nossa pesquisa. Destaca-se, ainda, a importância das relações interpessoais numa profissão direcionada para o cuidar e em que, por vezes, para minimizar as consequências da escassez de recursos humanos e para não sobrecarregar a equipe o enfermeiro vai trabalhar mesmo estando doente (11) . Neste âmbito, salientamos o papel de apoio por parte dos supervisores como essencial, quer no domínio emocional, quer instrumental, providenciando os recursos necessários (2) .…”

“…Por último, sensibilizados para a necessidade de aquisição de conhecimento, pois muito ainda permanece desconhecido, os enfermeiros procuraram em fontes de informação credíveis, indo ao encontro da importância de uma aprendizagem contínua, potenciando assim, a aprendizagem ao longo da vida, tal como vem sustentando a literatura (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17) .…”

Presenteeism Among Nurses in Switzerland and Portugal and Its Impact on Patient Safety and Quality of Care: Protocol for a Qualitative Study

“…Despite these poor working conditions, much of the absenteeism previously noted among nurses has been replaced by presenteeism [ 7 , 8 ]. Presenteeism may be described as the act of a health care professional who continues to work while sick or suffering from another condition that results in their underperformance at work [ 3 , 9 ]. One frequently used definition of presenteeism in nursing is the “act of being physically present at work when one should not be there” [ 10 ].…”

“…The concept of presenteeism has been described across different professions, organizations, and work environments [ 9 , 17 , 22 ]. One multisector study of presenteeism found that nurses reported 3-4 times higher rates of presenteeism than employees in management positions, and they had the highest rate among the 42 occupational groups surveyed [ 17 ].…”