Presenteeism Among Nursing Staff of Intensive Care Units

Introduction: Presenteeism is an emerging occupational health problem that affectsnurses; however, it receives little attention despite its culmination in poor health andsickness absenteeism. Nurses have high rates of mental and physical health conditionsthat may make them more at risk for presenteeism. Aim of Work: To measure theprevalence of presenteeism among nurses at intensive care units and determine itspossible associated risk factors. Materials and Methods: A comparative cross-sectionalstudy was conducted among 160 nurses at intensive care units of the main MansouraUniversity hospital and 160 nurses not working in ICUs from the same hospital. Aquestionnaire was used to study socio-demographic characteristics, occupational profileof nurses, and history of physical complaints in the past 12 months. Nurses’ presenteeismand performance was assessed using Stanford presenteeism scale-6 (SPS-6). Resultsand Recommendations: All nurses in both study groups reported having presenteeismin the past twelve months. ICUs nurses had a significantly lower mean SPS-6 totalpresenteeism and “avoid distraction” dimension scores and significantly higher mean“completing work” dimension scores than the comparison group. However, higherscores (>18) of SPS-6 total score were significantly less reported among ICUs nurses(75%) compared to the comparison group (85%). The independent predictors of higherpresenteeism were being female, graduated from the Technical Institute of Nursing,having musculoskeletal complaints, with high job demands, high decision latitude, andhaving an additional job. Conclusion: High presenteeism represents a health problemamong nursing staff. It can be ameliorated through health education, provision of restbreaks during work, and regulation of work for facilitating sick leaves when needed.