RÉSUMÉ Nous avons examiné le rôle de la satisfaction au travail, de l’épuisement émotionnel, et de la latitude de décision au travail comme variables prédictives de l’absentéisme au sein des unités de soins infirmiers d’un hôpital universitaire. Des données exploitables furent obtenues auprès de 625 infirmières représentant 51 unités de soins. Nous avons d’abord utilisé la régression logistique écologique, de la forme événements/essais, où un événement est un jour d’absence et un essai un jour de travail à effectuer, pour examiner les données. Dans une modélisation univariée, l’absentéisme était significativement associé à l’épuisement émotionnel, la satisfaction au travail, et la latitude de décision au travail. Cependant, en régression multiple logistique, l’épuisement émotionnel n’était plus associé à l’absentéisme, contrairement à la latitude de décision et à la satisfaction au travail. Ces relations furent examinées plus en détail via une analyse des pistes causales par LISREL 8 . 72. Le meilleur modèle fut celui où la latitude de décision et la satisfaction au travail étaient des déterminants directs de l’absentéisme. Nous discutons la portée de ces résultats.
AN EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECTS OF JOB DECISION LATITUDE, EMOTIONAL EXHAUSTION, AND JOB SATISFACTION ON ABSENTEEISM IN NURSING UNITS We examined the role of job satisfaction, emotional exhaustion, and job decision latitude as predictors of absenteeism among nurses at the aggregate (unit) level. The study was conducted in a university hospital. Usable data were collected from 625 respondents pertaining to 51 hospital units. We first used ecological logistic modelling of the form events/trials, where an event is an absence day and a trial is the sum of absence and worked days, to examine the contribution of our theorized predictors to absenteeism. Univariate analyses showed that absenteeism was significantly associated with emotional exhaustion (Wald chi-square = 190 . 8, p < .0001), job satisfaction (Wald chi-square = 377 . 5, p < .0001), and job decision latitude (Wald chi-square = 422,6, p < .0001). However, in multiple logistic regression, emotional exhaustion was not associated with absenteeism (Wald chi-square = 0.4, n.s.), while job control (Wald chi-square = 231.0, p < .0001) and job satisfaction (Wald chi-square = 96.5, p < .0001) remained negatively associated with it. These relationships were further analyzed using a path-analytic approach through LISREL (version 8 . 72). Our specified theoretical model included both direct and indirect effects of predictor variables on absenteeism. This model yielded an excellent fit to the data, χ2 (1) = 0.068, n.s., and revealed that job decision latitude had a significant effect on absenteeism (β = – .16, p < .001), but also influenced job satisfaction (β = .22, p < .001) and emotional exhaustion (β = – .40, p < .001). On the other hand, emotional exhaustion affected job satisfaction (β = – .61, p < .001) which in turn reduced absenteeism (β = – . 15, p < .01). These findings highlight the key role played by job decision latitude and job satisfaction as determinants of absenteeism in nursing units. These findings are interpreted within the context of avoidance motivation as a key mechanism through which nurses self-regulate their sense of well-being and health in the workplace (cf. Hackett & Bycio, 1996) and as a step towards more severe forms of withdrawal behavior (cf. Harrisson, Newman, & Roth, 2006). The significance of these findings for future research on absenteeism in nursing units is also discussed.