Personal de enfermería y absentismo laboral en el Servicio Extremeño de SaludAnálisis desde la perspectiva de género

Resumen

Absenteeism among health workers is an issue that is currently being discussed and a relevant concern to the health administration and to health professionals. Absenteeism is a problem that diminishes the professional morale, disrupts the continuity of patient care and ultimately can have a negative impact on the cost and quality of care and outcomes for them. Women compared with men generally are considered to have higher rates of sickness absence, however the constraints of absenteeism in health care workers may also be influenced by age, marital status, number of children, category, seniority, type of work, the degree of responsibility, degree of satisfaction with the work, time and type of space plus other factors yet to be studied. In this study we have analyzed the characteristics of temporary disabilities presented by all workers of the Extremadura Health Service (SES) during the period 2006-2010. The analysis of a total of 42096 temporary disabilities (IT) revealed a longer duration of the same within the SES female staff (45 ± 84 vs 43 ± 87 days natural, P <0.001) compared to that observed in the male staff. Throughout the studied period, IT increases progressively with age (P <0.001 for men and women). In the nursing staff we have observed differences with the data outlined above, as no differences in the duration of casualties among women and men (45 ± 84 calendar days for women and 45 ± 92 days natural men, P>0.05). When analyzing the frequency of IT in the SES staff it is an increase in frequency with increasing age of the staff. The women in the SES are at greater risk of having a higher frequency of IT. Having children is a factor that serves to reduce the risk of subsequent IT (consecutive or not) within the SES female staff either between nurses or other staff. Our results confirm that the determinants of absenteeism in the public health system are multifactorial and complex in Extremadura.