Absenteeism among public health nurses : does commitment matter?

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-73)This study explored the relationship between absenteeism and commitment (affective, continuance and normative commitment) as directed towards the organisation, co-workers and the nursing profession. Job satisfaction, job involvement, career stage and the absence culture were examined as moderators of the relationship between absenteeism and commitment. The sample comprised of 227 public sector nurses (54% response rate) from 11 day clinics and hospitals within the Western Cape Metropolitan District Health Services of South Africa. Affective, continuance and normative commitment to the organisation were not directly related to absenteeism, although interactions between these commitment components were significant predictors of absenteeism. Affective commitment to co-workers did not significantly explain absenteeism. However, affective commitment to the nursing profession explained significant variance in nurse absenteeism both directly and through the moderation effects of the absence culture of the workplace and the profession. Job satisfaction, job involvement and career stage of the nurses did not moderate the absenteeism-commitment relationship. The contributions of the study are discussed and recommendations for future research are made