FACULDADE DE MEDICINA “JÚLIO DE MESQUITA FILHO ... - Unesp

ABSTRACT
Time off or retraining due to illness and its implications in nursing
management.
Work activities have a special place in Man’s life. There is currently great
interest in worker’s health, mainly in the area of health given the variety of
occupational risks. The health worker looks after the client, but ends up
neglecting his own health. Time of sick is a problem in health service
management. This investigation was proposed due to worries about the causes
of time off and retraining due to illness; it focused on nursing professionals. The
objective was to identify the causes which triggered time off for health
treatment in a nursing team, and to understand how individuals lived with job
retraining in a public hospital institution in São Paulo State interior.
Methodology: The study had a quantitative and qualitative character. The
quantitative step characterized the profile of the nursing team and investigated
the reasons for time off for treatment between 2003 and 2007. The qualitative
phase consisted of interviews to understand how nursing professionals lived
with the retraining process. Both were analyzed using Content Analysis as
proposed by Bardin. Results: The main causes of time off were mental and
behavioural disturbances, followed by osteomuscular system and conjunctive
tissue diseases, lesions, envenoming, and other consequences from external
causes (mainly strains, fractures, and dislocations), and in forth place,
circulatory system diseases. The responses revealed problems in several areas
of the nursing work process, “Work Organization”, “Teamwork”, “Time off and
retraining”, and “Team Management”, generating suggestions for improving
management, communication, and humanization process in professional and
hierarchical relations. Final Considerations: The four commonest causes
represented 63.46% of all time off. The responses revealed that work is
intrinsically linked with living with disease and suffering, blaming the nursing
worker for being ill, generating silence when faced with pain, refusing care. The
retraining process generated individual, professional and social feelings of
incompetence and guilt for the worker. Important reflection and attitude changes
are urgently needed, supporting team management through “looking” at
worker’s health, which will consequently improve care given to the public.
Key-words: nursing; Occupational Health ; Sick Leave ; Health Manpower ;
Management.