THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN WORK SHIFT WITH WORK STRESS AND NURSES’ ABSENTEEISM

Abstract

This study aims to determine the differences in the level of work stress and nurse absenteeism on each shift and the relationship between work stress and the nurse's attendance rate in each hospital and to find the difference between the two hospitals. The study employs a non-experimental study with cross-sectional design by using point-time approach. This research was conducted on all nurses in inpatient rooms of Dr. Zainoel Abidin Banda Aceh Hospital and Tgk. Chik Ditiro Sigli Hospital of Aceh Province, Indonesia. The number of samples meeting the inclusion criteria was 121 nurses at Dr. Zainoel Abidin Banda Aceh Hospital. The key findings suggest that the level of stress of the nurses working night shift was lower than that of the nurses working afternoon shift while the stress level of afternoon shift nurses was lower than that of morning shift nurses. However, in Dr Zainoel Abidin Banda Aceh Hospital, the work stress levels of the nurses differed between each shift. Further research may examine the cause for nurses’ absenteeism as there were no significant relationship between total stress and nurses’ absenteeism.