[Expected and unexpected absence of the nursing team of a university hospital at the university of Sao Paulo, Brazil].

The objective of this exploratory-descriptive study was to identify expected and unexpected absences of the nursing team at the inpatient units of the University Hospital at the University of Sao Paulo. Data regarding unexpected absences of the nursing staff employees of these inpatient units were assessed on a monthly basis for the year 2000. The percentage of the expected absences regarding remunerated weekly time off, holidays and vacations corresponded to 19%, 3:9% and 8.9%, respectively. The survey of percentage of unexpected absences showed a variation among indices found in each unit, thus indicating the possibility of an excess workload in some inpatient units.