Abstract

Background: Motivation is the force that drives the worker to perform certain actions or behaviors that meet organizational aims. Absenteeism is the result of a lack of motivation, or of certain unforeseen circumstances that cause the nurse not to attend work. Aim: to describe the scientific knowledge on absenteeism and motivation in nursing in the Latin American context.Material and Methods: A panoramic review was carried out using the scoping review methodology. The PRISMA methodology was used.Results: 132 references were found, of which 91 were eliminated because they were not empirical articles, did not address the aim of the review or did not have the full text. Finally, 12 articles were included. The factors described as causes of absenteeism globally were interpersonal relationships, physical and emotional demands, seniority, age, ergonomic aspects, work shift, especially the night shift, work overload, family demands, job satisfaction, organizational aspects, salary, interpersonal relationships and work environment. The variation of the absenteeism rate in was on average 38% with a standard deviation of 23.47%, a minimum of 18% and maximum at 74.29%.Conclusions: The analysis of the literature allowed elucidation of the different causal factors of absenteeism behavior based on the assumption that in many cases absenteeism is the result of a series of causal factors rather than the response to only one of them.