Why Are Spanish Nurses Going to Work Sick? Questionnaire for the Measurement of Presenteeism in Nurses

Abstract

Presenteeism is defined as the presence of the worker at their workplace despite not being in optimal physical or mental conditions. Presenteeism is a phenomenon that has been poorly studied in the context of healthcare. Despite the many negative consequences associated with presenteeism, to date, no studies have investigated this issue in nurses in Spain. The objective was to develop and validate a questionnaire on presenteeism to be used by nursing staff in Spain. Methods: A psychometric study for the development and validation of a questionnaire. The PRESENCA® questionnaire on presenteeism was created by a panel of experts, based on a survey comprised of 31 Likert-type items. Results: In total, 355 nurses completed the questionnaire. The factorial analysis revealed the existence of 3 factors and confirmed appropriate levels of validity and reliability (alpha = 0.729). Conclusions: The PRESENCA® questionnaire is the first tool developed and validated in Spanish for the assessment of presenteeism in nursing. Our findings demonstrate that this scale has appropriate psychometric properties and its use may facilitate the detection of presenteeism among professionals. As a result, use of this questionnaire may contribute towards the improvement of clinical safety.

Employee Affiliation and Presenteeism in Health-care Settings

“…• Personal [24], [28], [31], [35], [42], [43], [44], [45], [46], such as: Denial of illness, financial situation, emotional instability, feelings of guilt, motivation, lack of interest in lifestyle change, knowledge, marital status, length of employment, workplace; • Organizational [24], [28], [31], [36], [47], such as: Lower-paid sick leave, job insecurity, shift work, staff shortages, high job demands, job insecurity or fear of job loss, job permanence, and the form of employment; • Social [28], [36], [39], [47], such as: Economic crisis fear of job loss, employers' intolerance of sickness absence, reactions to the social system -productivity is more important than employee well-being.…”

“…The most common factors of presenteeism include an organizational culture that supports such behavior, working conditions, and the nature of work that do not allow employees to take sick leave in case of illness, employee characteristics (e.g., psychological characteristics of the individual), and environmental influences (e.g., These include the organization's overall positive (supportive) attitude toward presenteeism, bonuses, rewards and incentives [47], strong organizational loyalty [24], [47], interpersonal relationships between employees [35], [46], managerial behavior [47], the nature of the profession [27], work ethics, and the negative consequences of reducing absenteeism [48].…”

“…Presenteeism is defined as a loss of productivity due to health problems or other events that negatively affect employees [24]. Presenteeism is the presence at work, despite illness, ill-health, disease, or other distractions, that causes employees to be <100% effective [25].…”

“…Sarabia-Cobo et al [24] defined the profile of a nurse in their study as a middle-aged woman working in a large hospital, with many years of experience, a stable job and a strong sense of affiliation to her unit or work group. Rainbow [31] found in his interviews with nurses that they feel guilty when they are absent from work, because they disappoint the colleagues who will do their work, because they disappoint patients, because their absence means lower efficiency of treatment, but also because they feel that they disappoint their family members, because they do not have free time or because they do not bring enough finances into the family budget.…”