| dc.description.abstract | Nigeria is experiencing shortages of health care workers within its national health services, especially with respect to doctors, nurses and pharmacists. These shortages are traceable to, among other factors, low job satisfaction, which leads to health care workers exiting the national health services, as well as reduced entry of health care workers into the health care system. Understanding the nature of job satisfaction and its causes is critical to informing strategies to halt attrition of the health workforce. The current study surveyed job satisfaction among 180 health care workers, employed in 20randomly selected primary health care centres in the Bwari Area Council of Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. An observational, descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted using the abbreviated form of the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated using Epi Info v3.1 statistical software. The results from the study revealed that more than half of the respondents (53.2%), were dissatisfied to varying degrees with their current employment. Out of the respondents that said they were dissatisfied, 33.3% stated that they were likely to leave their current employment. The most salient causes for job dissatisfaction were: (1) Institutional factors such as management support (69%); (2) Implementation of policies and procedures (66%); (3) Employee benefits including salaries and wages (33%) and other benefits (56%). It is pertinent to note that issues related to poor implementation of policies and procedures in the work place, and poor conditions of employment need to be addressed urgently to prevent the imminent loss of a third of the workforce to either private health institutions in the country or international migration. | en_US |
