Introduction:

Work absenteeism of nursing personnel influences greatly on work performance of health services.

Objective:

To describe work absenteeism in the nursing staff of the District Hospital of Limpio, Paraguay during 2018.

Methods:

Descriptive, cross-sectional, temporally retrospective study. The geographical scope was the District Hospital of Limpio. The sampling was non-probabilistic of convenience. The sample consisted of 163 medical rest periods, obtained by a secondary source, based on the medical rest periods submitted to the Human Resources Department. The variables were demographic, work and rest related. Data collected was coded and tabulated in Excel and EPI INFO 7.0. This work was approved by the National Health Institute (NHS) Ethics Committee.

Results:

87.1% (142) were women, 54.6% (89) were between 30 and 39 years old. A total of 71.2% (116) were permanent staff, 75.5% (123) were female graduates and assistants, and 66.3% (108) were free-lancers. June and July were the months with the highest work absenteeism (27%, 16.0%). The main causes were respiratory (36.8%, 60) and digestive diseases (13.5%, 22). Nursing assistants most frequently requested rest due to respiratory illnesses (57.1%, 12) followed by digestive illnesses (19.0%, 4). Rest due to respiratory diseases was the most frequent cause for the outpatient and inpatient areas.

Conclusion:

Most of the medical rest of the nursing staff are due to respiratory and digestive diseases.

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