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Workload and short sickness absences in a cohort of Finnish hospital employees

Author

Listed:
  • Tero Kuusi

    (Etla Economic Research)

  • Martti Kulvik

    (Etla Economic Research
    Etlatieto Oy)

  • Mikko Härmä

    (The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health)

  • Annina Ropponen

    (The Finnish Institute of Occupational Health)

Abstract

This article used register data on day-to-day working hours of hospital employees combined with patient characteristics at work unit (wards) level to measure workload and its implications for short, self-certified sickness absences. We measured statistically the average nursing treatment burden of different patient mixes in hospital wards, and then analyzed the overall workload (intensity) of working days by comparing it to the actual available nursing workforce. We found that a significant part of the workload variation occurred between working days, and it was related to unexpected changes in the number of employees. In atypical situations a long work shift was associated with caring for patients with fewer resources. The high workload of a day increased the risk of short sickness absences along the following 3-week period. The results show that managing short-term workload variability should be a key aim from the perspective of well-being at work, and that combining different data sources can provide novel, important insights to the measurement of workload.

Suggested Citation

  • Tero Kuusi & Martti Kulvik & Mikko Härmä & Annina Ropponen, 2025. "Workload and short sickness absences in a cohort of Finnish hospital employees," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 26(2), pages 199-222, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:26:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10198-024-01698-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10198-024-01698-8
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health care; Workload; Efficiency; Working time features; Occupational health;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • M50 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - General

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