title: Workloads, strain processes and sickness absenteeism in nursing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to analyze the workloads, strain processes and sickness absenteeism among nursing workers from a teaching hospital in the Brazilian Central-West.
  
  
  METHODS
  a descriptive and cross-sectional study was developed with a quantitative approach, based on the theoretical framework of the social determination of the health-disease process. Data were collected between January and December 2009, based on records of complaints related to occupational exposure among nursing professionals, filed in the software Monitoring System of Nursing Workers' Health. For the sake of statistical analysis, relative and absolute frequencies of the variables and the risk coefficient were considered.
  
  
  RESULTS
  144 notifications of occupational exposure were registered across the analysis period, which represented 25% of the total nursing population at the hospital. The physiological and psychic workloads were the most representative, corresponding to 37% and 36%, respectively. These notifications culminated in 1567 days of absenteeism for disease treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  the findings evidence the impact of occupational illnesses on the absenteeism of nursing workers, and can be used to demonstrate the importance of institutional investments in occupational health surveillance.
authors.forename: Vivian Aline
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Mininel
authors.affiliation: Escola de Enfermagem, Universidade de São Paulo, São PauloSP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Vanda Elisa Andres
authors.initials: VE
authors.lastname: Felli
authors.affiliation: Coordenação de Atenção à Saúde, Universidade de Brasília, BrasíliaDF, Brazil.
authors.forename: Everaldo José da
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.affiliation: Coordenação de Atenção à Saúde, Universidade de Brasília, BrasíliaDF, Brazil.
authors.forename: Zelinda
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Torri
authors.affiliation: Coordenação de Atenção à Saúde, Universidade de Brasília, BrasíliaDF, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Paula
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Abreu
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitário de Brasília, BrasíliaDF, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maria Tereza Afonso
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Branco
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009729:Nursing; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*