OBJECTIVE To develop and psychometrically test the Stanford Presenteeism Scale-6 to assess presenteeism in the Spanish healthcare population. BACKGROUND Presenteeism, referring to going to work despite being ill, has been associated with job stress, productivity losses, reduced patient safety and increased health problems among the professionals who suffer from it. BACKGROUND The highest prevalence of presenteeism in the healthcare sector is among nurses. Their decision to attend work while ill has been related to role overload, lack of supervisor support, mental health and physical conditions. METHODS A cross-sectional and validation study was conducted between September 2015 and June 2016 in a hospital in Asturias, Spain. Four hundred and ninety-five healthcare professionals voluntarily agreed to participate (281 nurses, 122 physicians and 92 nursing assistants). RESULTS Presenteeism prevalence was high; the majority of it being in the nursing category. Bartlett's test and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin test indicated that the data meet the conditions for factorial analysis, evidencing a small variability in the median of each sample item and a significant standard deviation. Adjustment rates obtained in the exploratory factor analysis showed adequacy, and reliability rates also showed adequacy for both factors. It was verified by a confirmatory analysis that the factors of presenteeism are positively associated with burnout. CONCLUSIONS The Stanford Presenteeism Scale-6 showed good psychometric properties to study presenteeism in the Spanish healthcare sector. CONCLUSIONS Nursing leaders must develop measurements to assess and control psychosocial risks in order to improve the physical and mental health of professionals and reduce patient safety risks.