Work leave among nursing professionals due to psychological etiologies

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the incidence and the length of periods off work specifically linked to psychological causes among nursing professionals. Furthermore, the study tried to identify risk factors for the work leaves and suggest actions that can mitigate the problems encountered. Methods: This was a retrospective, ecological study, in the largest public hospital of Curitiba-PR, with data from 3,692 nurses (2,294 auxiliary nurses, 590 nursing technicians and 808 nurses) from January 2007 to September 2010. An exploratory review was performed to form the theoretical basis of this study. The annual incidences for each type of work leave due to psychological causes were identified, among the nursing professionals. Results: It was found that the main cause of absenteeism were depressive episodes (F32), with 784 leaves. As for the length of time, the cause for longer periods off among nurses (40.62 days on average) was the bipolar affective disorder (F31). Nursing assistants and technicians were away from work due to recurrent depressive disorder (F33) on average for 40.47 days and 54.33 days, respectively. Conclusion: There was a high incidence of depressive episodes and the mean duration of absenteeism due to psychological causes was over 30 days, pointing to the need of investments in prevention and in healthcare for nursing professionals. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.5020/18061230.2013.p554

Keywords

• Saúde Mental
• Doenças do Trabalho
• Absenteísmo.