Presenteeism in Nurses: Prevalence, Consequences, and Causes From the Perspectives of Nurses and Chief Nurses

Abstract

Presenteeism refers to the behavior of people who turn up for work despite complaints of ill health that should prompt rest and absence from work. The high incidence of presenteeism in the nurse population has been extensively investigated using self-reported methods to explore its effects on individual outcomes. However, few studies have examined nurse presenteeism using an “other's” perspective to verify self-reported information. Our aim in this study was to evaluate the prevalence, consequences, and causes of presenteeism in Chinese nurses from the perspectives of nurses and chief nurses. A sample of 481 nurses and 282 chief nurses from five hospitals in Henan Province, China, took part in this cross-sectional study. Participants completed the Sickness Presenteeism Questionnaire, Social Productivity Loss Questionnaire, and Causes of Nurse Presenteeism Questionnaire. The human capital method was used to estimate the monetary loss because of nurse presenteeism. We found that 94.25 and 82.08% of nurses experienced presenteeism in the past 6 months from the perspective of nurses and chief nurses, respectively. The annual monetary loss was estimated to be ¥4.38 billion and ¥2.88 billion based on the presenteeism reports from nurses and chief nurses, respectively. Workload, leave system, and conscientiousness are the main reasons for nurse presenteeism, and financial need is another important reason that is likely overlooked by chief nurses. This study provides a foundation for future research by presenting new knowledge about the prevalence, consequences, and causes of presenteeism in Chinese nurses. The findings emphasize the need for nursing managers and nursing departments to establish policy systems around paid sick leave, workload, and communication with managers to reduce nurse presenteeism and the subsequent socio-economic financial losses.

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

“…To the best of our knowledge, there is a scarcity of qualitative research into presenteeism [44]. Most studies of nurse presenteeism have focused on the consequences for patients, linking it to increased rates of patient falls, medication errors, missed care, and changes in patient safety error reporting [58,59]. It is also possible that the consequences of presenteeism in nursing are different from those found in other industries or the patient consequences associated with presenteeism among other health care professionals.…”

Development and Validity of the Nurse Presenteeism Questionnaire

“…In most studies, the average incidence of the behaviour was approximately at 50%-sometimes, even higher. In China, Shan et al (2021) discovered that 94.25% of Chinese nurses reported that they had engaged in presenteeism behaviour in the preceding 6 months, and the incidence was 82.08% in their direct leaders' eyes. Thus, it is urgent to attach importance to the presenteeism behaviour in Chinese nursing professions.…”

“…However, the presenteeism behaviour of nurses tends to affect the treatment and rehabilitation of their patients, reduce their nursing quality, and introduce negative effects, such as an increase in the number of falls of patients and drug errors (Letvak et al, 2012). Nurse presenteeism behaviours will not only affect nurses' physical and mental health, reduce job satisfaction and engagement, and increase job burnout, but also bring financial burden and productivity loss to medical organisations (Demerouti et al, 2009;Letvak et al, 2012;Kandemir Türe and Bayram, 2017;Zhang et al, 2018;Shan et al, 2021).…”

A cross-sectional study of psychosocial factors and sickness presenteeism in Japanese workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…It has been defined as "the phenomenon of people, despite complaints and ill health that should prompt rest and absence from work, still turning up at their jobs" 1 . Sickness presenteeism has been reported in a number of countries [2][3][4][5][6] . It is known that workers with sickness presenteeism are aware of suboptimal general health and at increased risk of developing coronary artery disease and depression [7][8][9] .…”