[Absenteeism in the nursing team].

The absence of elements of nursing staff jeopardizes the work organization causing overload on this staff and reduction of quality on the nursing assistance. The present study characterizes the type and distribution of absences of the nursing staff in a general far-reaching hospital, purposing a Technical Safety Rate to cover the absences from the reality investigated. Eight types of absences were studied between foreseen or non-foreseen. The highest number of absence types found were those ones referred to the foreseen absences. In sequence we found maternity leave representing the highest number of non-foreseen absences.