Introduction:‎‏ ‏Absenteeism is a side effect of personnel problems. Researches in different societies show nursing professionals experience high level of sickness absence in ‎comparison with other occupational professionals. Absenteeism adversely affects patient care ‎both directly and indirectly and nurses also as members of health care systems suffer from it. ‎

 Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effective personal and familial ‎factors on absenteeism in nursing professionals at educational – therapeutic centers in Rasht.‎

Methods: In this cross – sectional and descriptive study, ‎‏600‏‎ nursing professionals were ‎studied. A self – administered questionnaire survey method was used to collect data and it ‎was analyzed with SPSS ‎‏11.5‏‎, chi square and exact fisher test.‎

Results: Analyses revealed that ‎‏78.8‏‎ % of nursing professionals were not absent in the last ‎‏6‏‎ ‎months. In addition ‎‏71%‏‎ of all absences were ‎‏1-3‏‎ days (short – term). The main cause of ‎absence was illness (‎‏69.4%‏‎) and back pain had the highest rate (‎‏33.9%‏‎) among who were ‎absent in the last ‎‏6‏‎ months. Double booked with another facility were associated with short ‎term absence (p<‎‏0.05‏‎) but none of other factors associated with absence. ‎ Conclusion: These results suggest that nurse managers should recognize the factors that cause ‎nurses to work in double facilities that can be related to financial demands or staffing status ‎of nurses. Also because the main cause of absence was illness they should plan for promotion ‎of nurses' health. ‎