Adoecimento no trabalho : um estudo sobre trabalhadores da atenção básica em saúde de um município do Rio Grande do Sul.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Primary Health Care is the gateway to the Brazilian Health System. It has a minimum team of professionals who provide assistance to the enrolled population. These workers, often overwhelmed by the growing demand for care, have been away from work because they are sick is what we call absenteeism due to illness. This withdrawal leads to overload of other professionals and there is a loss in people's health care. OBJECTIVE: This dissertation aims to analyze characteristics associated with absenteeism due to illness of primary health care workers in the city of Santa Cruz do Sul / RS. ABSTRACT OF ARTICLE 1 - ABSENTEEISM ON WORK: a study about illness on Primary Healthcare workers in a Southern Municipality on Brazil Introduction: Absenteeism is the nonattendance of a worker in their activities when their presence would be expected, which can happen because of the illness process, this being defined by any biological or functional modification that appears as consequence of work. Objective: Characterize the absenteeism due to illness on the Primary Healthcare workers on the city of Santa Cruz do Sul/RS. Methods: The study was made utilizing a quantitative, descriptive, and retrospective epidemiological approach. From the work absence records existing on the Human Resources Sector, a sociodemographic profile of these workers, their professional category, weekly workload, and medical certificates records showed during the study period. Results: A total of 976 sick leaves were showed in 2019 and 843 in 2020. The worker’s average age was 38,2 years. Women (94,35%), the community health workers and nursing technicians (24,5%) were the ones who got sick leave. The average of leave days was 6,1 days per worker. Conclusion: Absenteeism leads to overload of the professional team that remains at work. New studies are necessary to identify absenteeism causes and with this, new measures can be adopted to increase job satisfaction. ABSTRACT OF ARTICLE 2 - Economic implications of work absenteeism on Primary Healthcare in a Southern Brazil municipality Introduction: Absenteeism is the nonattendance of a worker in their activities when their presence would be expected. Most of the time, it is related to illness. It leads to social and economic repercussions, both to the worker and their manager and work colleagues. The cost 9 refers to a relative expense to the goods or the service utilized in the production of other goods ands services. There is the hidden cost of that is related to absenteeism on work, workplace accidents, personnel rotation, poor quality, and for loss of direct productivity. Primary Healthcare, is the preferred entrance door to health services, being organized in Family Healthcare Strategy. There is a healthcare team composed of various professional categories that provide healthcare to a defined population. Objective: The objective of this work was to analyze aspects of absenteeism caused by illness on Primary Healthcare network workers in a municipality in Rio Grande do Sul and its economic implications. Method: A descriptive quantitative epidemiological approach, with secondary retrospective data collection. From the Municipal Health Secretariat Human Resources Sector records, a survey about absenteeism was named, proved by medical certificate, between primary care workers. The period of the study was from January 2019 to December 2020. Based on the documental survey frequency, the gravity and index of absenteeism was calculated, as was the hidden cost provoked by absenteeism. Results: On the year of 2019, 976 medical certificates were shown by Primary Care workers and 1007 certificates in 2020. The study population was 352 people. The absenteeism frequency encountered was 2,77 certificates per worker in 2019, and 2,86 in 2020. The severity was 4,16 sick leave days per worker in 2019 and 6,27 days in 2020. The hidden cost encountered was R$ 192.791,08 in 2019 and R$ 278.644,22 in 2020. The biggest value of this cost was with the 40- hour contract medic, followed by the nurse, the community health worker, and the nursing technician. Conclusion: Absenteeism on work presents a challenge to public managers. New studies are necessary to identify the reasons of work leaves and to analyze the organizational climate of the workplaces of Primary Care professionals. The hidden costs involved need to be analyzed and strategies to reduce this expense should be considered. Actions to promote worker health in the context of primary healthcare are necessary. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: Based on the present study, it is intended to assist workers to improve working conditions and, consequently, their health and avoid illness processes. Helping professionals who are already sick to find ways to stay at work through organization and critical reflection on their work. It is also intended to provide subsidies for municipal management to provide tools to its employees in order to increase job satisfaction and thus 10 reduce the negative impact that absenteeism causes, which can provide better service to the general population, improving the satisfaction of the community using PHC services in the municipality. It was noticed that community health workers were the ones who most took time off work during the study period, as well as workers with a 40-hour workweek. The female sex, for characteristically having a double workday, also moved away more. Absenteeism has a hidden cost involved, which can be minimized by improving working conditions and improving worker satisfaction with work. It was not possible to contemplate the initial objectives of the project due to the impossibility of conducting interviews as a result of COVID-19.