Managing nursing assistant absenteeism

Absenteeism amongst health workers--developing a typology to support empiric work in low-income countries and characterizing reported associations

The contribution of inadequate health worker numbers and emigration have been highlighted in the international literature, but relatively little attention has been paid to absenteeism as a factor that undermines health-care delivery in low income countries. We therefore aimed to review the literature on absenteeism from a health system manager's perspective to inform needed work on this topic. Specifically, we aimed to develop a typology of definitions that might be useful to classify different forms of absenteeism and identify factors associated with absenteeism. Sixty-nine studies were reviewed, only four were from sub-Saharan Africa where the human resources for health crisis is most acute. Forms of absenteeism studied and methods used vary widely. No previous attempt to develop an overarching approach to classifying forms of absenteeism was identified. A typology based on key characteristics is proposed to fill this gap and considers absenteeism as defined by two key attributes, whether it is: planned/unplanned, and voluntary/involuntary. Factors reported to influence rates of absenteeism may be broadly classified into three thematic categories: workplace and content, personal and organizational and cultural factors. The literature presents an inconsistent picture of the effects of specific factors within these themes perhaps related to true contextual differences or inconsistent definitions of absenteeism.

Nurse empowerment, job-related satisfaction, and organizational commitment

Developing nursing care and the new technologies involved also require nurses to learn continuously and update their expertise. Attention has also been paid to the attractiveness of the profession-its ability to attract young people and retain nurses currently working in the profession. The concept of empowerment has been widely adopted in nursing research and in development of nursing care, education, and management. In the literature it has generally considered in the context of organizations' functioning and personnel management methods. In the psychological theory, used in this study, empowerment is seen as a process of personal growth and development. The qualities, values, and endeavours inherent in the individual as well as environmental factors are key factors here. The purpose of this article is to describe the results of a quantitative study (n = 416) dealing with nurse empowerment and to identify the background factors significant for its realization. Consistent with numerous previous studies, job satisfaction and organizational commitment were found to be crucial elements of nurse empowerment, too.