Retention

Lessons on Attraction and Retention of Health Staff

This predominantly quantitative research paper interrogates the attraction and retention of health professionals at eleven randomly selected health centres in Gweru municipality, Zimbabwe. [from abstract]

Assessment of Non-Financial Incentives for Volunteer Community Health Workers – The Case of Wukro District, Tigray, Ethiopia

Volunteer community health workers (VCHW) are health care providers who are trained but do not
have any professional certification. They are intended to fill the gap for unmet curative, preventative, and health promotion health needs of communities. This study aims to investigate the non-financial incentives for VCHWs and factors affecting their motivation. [from abstract]

Pay for Performance: An Analysis of the Context of Implementation In A Pilot Project in Tanzania

Pay for performance schemes are increasingly being implemented in low income countries to improve health service coverage and quality. This paper describes the context within which a pay for performance programme was introduced in Tanzania and discusses the potential for pay for performance to address health system constraints to meeting targets. [from abstract]

Establishing Sustainable Performance-Based Incentive Schemes: Views of Rural Health Workers from Qualitative Research in Three Sub-Saharan African Countries

Performance-based incentives (PBIs) are currently receiving attention as a strategy for improving the quality of care that health providers deliver. Experiences from several African countries have shown that PBIs can trigger improvements, particularly in the area of maternal and neonatal health. The involvement of health workers in deciding how their performance should be measured is recommended. Only limited information is available about how such schemes can be made sustainable. [from introduction]

Why Do Some Physicians in Portuguese-Speaking African Countries Work Exclusively for the Private Sector? Findings From a Mixed-Methods Study

Despite the growing interest in the private health sector in low- and middle-income countries, little is known about physicians working outside the public sector. The paper’s objective is to contribute to the understanding of such physicians, ultimately informing the policies regulating the medical profession in low- and middle-income countries. [adapted from abstract]

Financing Health Care: How to Bridge the Gap in Human Resources for Health

Worldwide there are different systems for providing pharmacy services. Most countries have some element of state assistance,either for all patients or selected groups such as children, and some private provisions. Medicines are financed either through cost sharing or full private. The role of the private services is therefore much more significant. Nationally, there is a mismatch between the numbers of pharmacists and where are they worked, and the demand for pharmacy services. [from abstract]

The Engagement of East and Southern African Countries on the WHO Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel and Its Implementation

This synthesis report is part of the Regional Network for Equity in Health (EQUINET) programme of work on Contributions of global health diplomacy to health systems in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence and information to support capabilities for health diplomacy in east and southern Africa. The programme aims to identify factors that support the effectiveness of global health diplomacy (GHD) in addressing selected key challenges to health strengthening systems in eastern and southern Africa (ESA). [from introduction]

Availability of Medical Staff in Poland in Comparison to Other EU Countries

Access to medical staff differs across Europe. In 2011, the country that had the smallest number of physicians in all European Union was Poland. During last ten years, the number of doctors per capita increased in all European countries except Poland and Estonia. The aim of the study is to analyse the availability of medical staff in Poland and selected EU countries in the years 2003-2011. [from abstract]

An Investigation of Staff Turnover at a Private Healthcare Provider in the Kavango Region, Namibia

The study sought to investigate the factors contributing to the high turnover of clinical staff at two Catholic Health Services (CHS) hospitals of Andara and Nyangana in the Kavango region of Namibia. The conceptual framework, factors related to the decision to stay in or leave rural and remote areas, was adapted from Henderson and Tulloch (2008) and guided this study. [from abstract]

Medical and Nursing Students' Intentions to Work Abroad or in Rural Areas: A Cross-Sectional Survey in Asia and Africa

The objective of the study was To assess medical and nursing students’ intentions to migrate abroad or practice in rural areas. Researchers surveyed 3199 first- and final-year medical and nursing students at 16 premier government institutions in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nepal, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia. The survey contained questions to identify factors that could predict students’ intentions to migrate. [from abstract]

Understanding the Labour Market of Human Resources for Health in Sudan

This document provides an overview of the HRH labour market in Sudan, highlighting the importance of a comprehensive approach to understanding the driving forces that affect the supply and demand for health workers, in order to provide a basis for developing effective HRH polices that can contribute to progress towards universal health coverage. [from abstract]

The Linkage Between Work-Related Factors, Employee Satisfaction and Organisational Commitment: Insights from Public Health Professionals

The public health sector in South Africa faces a number of human resource–related inundations. Solving these challenges requires the provision of empirically derived information on these matters. This study investigated the relationship between three work-related factors, person-environment fit, work-family balance and perceived job security, and employee satisfaction and organisational commitment. A conceptual framework that links these factors is proposed and tested. [from abstract]

What Elements of the Work Environment Are Most Responsible For Health Worker Dissatisfaction in Rural Primary Care Clinics in Tanzania?

In countries with high maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality, reliable access to quality healthcare in rural areas is essential to save lives. Health workers who are satisfied with their jobs are more likely to remain in rural posts. Understanding what factors influence health workers’ satisfaction can help determine where resources should be focused. Although there is a growing body of research assessing health worker satisfaction in hospitals, less is known about health worker satisfaction in rural, primary health clinics.

Factors Influencing Job Satisfaction and Its Relationship on Career Development Among Nursing Staff within a Public Hospital in South Africa

South Africa has a dual health system, namely, the public health sector that includes government health institutions, serving mostly the lower income population and the private health sector that serves those who can afford care from their own income. The public sector is responsible for 82 percent of the population and only accounts for 40 percent of the government health expenditure. The purpose of this study was to evaluate job satisfaction levels among nursing staff within a public hospital in Southern Gauteng. [adapted from abstract]

The Effects of Health Worker Motivation and Job Satisfaction on Turnover Intention in Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Study

The study explored the effects of motivation and job satisfaction on turnover intention and how motivation and satisfaction can be improved by district health managers in order to increase retention of health workers. [from abstract]

Transforming and Scaling Up Health Workforce Education and Training for Health Equity

CapacityPlus hosted a knowledge-sharing and dissemination event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on March 18. The three-hour program featured presentations on key messages from the 2014 Prince Mahidol Award Conference, which focused on transformative learning for health equity; the World Health Organization’s recommendations for health worker education and retention; and innovative approaches and tools developed by CapacityPlus in collaboration with global and national partners.

Rural Health Worker Retention Tools

Many countries struggle to attract and retain sufficient numbers and types of health workers to provide quality services in rural and remote areas. To encourage country ownership and advocate for use of data for policy-making, the USAID-funded CapacityPlus project developed several tools, including the Rapid Retention Survey Toolkit; a companion software product, iHRIS Retain, developed in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO); and a discrete choice experiment user guide, developed in collaboration with the World Bank and the WHO. [from introduction]

Factors Affecting Motivation and Retention of Primary Health Care Workers in Three Disparate Regions in Kenya

This study investigated factors influencing motivation and retention of HCWs at primary health care facilities in three different settings in Kenya - the remote area of Turkana, the relatively accessible region of Machakos, and the disadvantaged informal urban settlement of Kibera in Nairobi. [from abstract]

Retention of Female Volunteer Community Health Workers in Dhaka Urban Slums: a Prospective Cohort Study

Volunteer community health workers (CHWs) are a key approach to improving community-based maternal and child health services in developing countries. A case–control study conducted in response to high dropout rates in the first year of the project showed that financial incentives, social prestige, community approval and household responsibilities were related to early retention in the project. In our present prospective cohort study, we aimed to better understand the factors associated with retention of volunteer CHWs once the project was more mature. [adapted from abstract]

HRM and its Effect on Employee, Organizational and Financial Outcomes in Health Care Organizations

One of the main goals of Human Resource Management (HRM) is to increase the performance of organizations. However, few studies have explicitly addressed the multidimensional character of performance and linked HR practices to various outcome dimensions. This study therefore adds to the literature by relating HR practices to three outcome dimensions: financial, organizational and employee (HR) outcomes. Furthermore, we will analyze how HR practices influence these outcome dimensions, focusing on the mediating role of job satisfaction. [from abstract]

Context Analysis: Close-to-Community Providers in Mozambique

This report combines findings from a desk review,a mapping of [Close-to-Community] CTC providers and data collected during qualitative explorations carried out in two selected districts of Maputo Province as part of the context analysis. [from introduction]

Job Burnout, Mood State, and Cardiovascular Variable Changes of Doctors and Nurses in a Children's Hospital in China

This study examines mood and cardiovascular variables related to job stress and burnout in hospital personnel. [from abstract]

Early Implementation of WHO Recommendations for the Retention of Health Workers in Remote and Rural Areas

This paper presents experiences with local and regional adaptation and adoption of WHO recommendations. It highlights challenges and lessons learnt in implementation in two countries – the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and South Africa – and provides a broader perspective in two regions – Asia and Europe. At country level, the use of the recommendations facilitated a more structured and focused policy dialogue, which resulted in the development and adoption of more relevant and evidence-based policies. [from abstract]

Nursing Churn and Turnover in Australian Hospitals: Nurses Perceptions and Suggestions for Supportive Strategies

This study aimed to reveal nurses’ experiences and perceptions of turnover in Australian hospitals and identify strategies to improve retention, performance and job satisfaction. [from abstract]

Supporting Country-Led Efforts to Recruit and Retain Health Workers and Improve Their Productivity

CapacityPlus, with the USAID ASSIST Project and the World Bank, cohosted a knowledge-sharing and dissemination event at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, on February 18. The three-hour program focused on the latest evidence from country applications of innovations to strengthen health workforce recruitment, retention, and productivity. [from introduction]

Future directions for Public Health Education reforms in India

We analyzed the Indian public health education scenario using the institutional and instructional reforms
framework advanced by the Lancet Commission report on Education of Health Professionals. [from abstract]

Strategic Human Resources Solutions for Healthcare Systems in Central and Eastern Africa

This article explores the human resources problems along with the health status and services for Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. Situational analysis on health status and service delivery is presented via a thorough examination of country specific National Health Sector Strategic Plans. Strategic solutions based on improving the Human Resources for Health are explained and World Health
Organization’s Millennium Development Goals are examined. [from abstract]

Nurses’ Perception of the Quality of Nursing Work Life and Related Priorities for Improvement in Ain shams University Specialized Hospital

This study aimed to assess nurses’ perception of the quality of nursing work life and related priorities for improvement in Ain shams university specialized hospital. [from abstract]

Supervising Community Health Workers in Low-Income Countries – A Review of Impact and Implementation Issues

To determine the impact of supervision strategies used in low- and middle-income countries and discuss implementation and feasibility issues with a focus on [Community Health Workers]. [Adapted from abstract]

Migration of Health Workers: The WHO Code of Practice and the Global Economic Crisis

This publication provides insights into steps taken to implement the Code globally and it features detailed experiences from 13 countries. It also gives other countries valuable guidance and recommendations on how they, too, can implement the Code of Practice. [adapted from introduction]