TESTING BROOKE'S CAUSAL MODEL OF ABSENTEEISM ON NURSES.
Contributors: Virginia Commonwealth University.
Published: 1992
Number of pages: 210
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Health Care Management.
Description: This cross-sectional study examined the predictors of RN absenteeism and the relationship between absenteeism and perceived quality of care, using self-report absenteeism data. No prior study investigated the predictors of RN absenteeism and whether or not absenteeism affected the quality of care.

A modification of Brooke's causal model of absenteeism was used to determine the predictors of RN absenteeism using a stratified random sample of 163 full-time registered nurses who work in a metropolitan medical center.

Brooke's model contained kinship responsibility, alcohol involvement, work involvement, routinization, centralization, role ambiguity, pay, organizational permissiveness, and job satisfaction. Three additional variables, including supervisory support, job hazards and burnout, were added to Brooke's model making up the original model tested in this study; the model explained 11% (p =.13) and the revised model, that included kinship responsibility, work involvement, role ambiguity, pay, burnout and job hazards, accounted for 8% (p =.04) of the variance in personal absenteeism. The original model also explained 16% (p =.01) and the revised model that contained alcohol involvement, routinization, role ambiguity, supervisory support, and pay explained 13% (p =.0007) of the variance in perceived unit absenteeism. The relatively high nurse satisfaction (22.7, maximum score is 30) and moderate low burnout (17.4, maximum score is 54) may explain the low variance explained by the model.

Results also indicated that RN absenteeism is significantly related with perceived effect of RN absenteeism on the quality of care (r =.469; p =.0001). An open-ended question was included which asked the nurses "ways that RN absenteeism affects the quality of care." The nurses indicated that RN absenteeism causes scheduling/staffing problems and increases patient/nurse ratio resulting in decreased staff morale, unsafe environment for patients, less time to meet psychosocial and teaching needs of patients, and less time for documentation. The implications for nursing administration are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-04, Section: B, page: 1781.

Thesis (PH.D.)--VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY, 1992.

School code: 2383.