Sick Students: Presenteeism among Nursing Students in 3 Countries

Catharine Critz, Hobie Etta Feagai, April Akeo, Mieko Tanaka, Juh Hyun Shin, Michael Erickson, Mari Ikeda, Haruyo Moriya, Kyoko Ozaki

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background Presenteeism, the act of going to work while sick, is associated with increases in medication errors, patient falls, diminished quality of care, and higher costs. To date, presenteeism has not been described among nursing students. Purpose This study described presenteeism in nursing students from 3 different international nursing programs. Method A self-administered survey with open-ended responses was used. Results While nearly all student respondents believed going to class and clinical experiences put their classmates and patients at risk, the overall presenteeism rate was 85.5% for class and 69.5% for clinical experiences. Although there were significant differences between universities for reasons for presenteeism, a lack of opportunity for making up missed lecture or clinical time predominated. Conclusion Nursing students in 3 culturally different cities reported going to class and clinical experiences while sick despite recognizing the safety risk.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)E1-E5
JournalNurse Educator
Volume45
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2020

Keywords

  • class attendance
  • going to class while ill
  • nursing students
  • prelicensure nursing programs
  • presenteeism

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