title: What do nurse managers say about nurses' sickness absenteeism? A new perspective.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore nurses' sickness absenteeism from the perspective of nurse managers.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Sickness absenteeism among health-care providers, especially nurses, remains a significant problem in an era of challenges to provide high quality care with the required skill mix. This in turn compromises the quality of care and adds to the costs of an organisation.
  
  
  METHODS
  A qualitative descriptive design was used. Data were collected from a governmental academic hospital in Lebanon. In-depth tape-recorded interviews were conducted with a total of 20 nurse managers. Data were analysed through a content analysis approach.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data analysis yielded three domains as follows: work-related, individual and organisational factors that lead to nurses' sickness absenteeism.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study conceptualised nurses' absenteeism from the nurse managers' perspective, and it revealed absence antecedents that are rarely reported elsewhere in the literature.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings from this study can be utilised to design reform initiatives concerned with nurses' absenteeism and to decrease its negative consequences in terms of quality and cost.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.|American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baydoun
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.|Evidence-based Healthcare Management Unit, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Nuhad
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dumit
authors.affiliation: Evidence-based Healthcare Management Unit, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.|Suliman S. Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Lina
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Daouk-Öyry
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D007861:Lebanon; D009718:Nurse Administrators / Q000523:psychology*; D009726:Nurses / Q000592:standards; D010465:Perception; D036301:Qualitative Research; D018582:Sick Leave
keywords: Lebanon; nurse managers; qualitative; sickness absenteeism