Human Resources Management

The objective of this paper is to identify important aspects of health worker satisfaction and motivation in two Indian states working in public and private sectors. [from abstract]

The objective of this study was to investigate how medical and nursing staff of the Nicosia General Hospital is affected by specific motivation factors, and the association between job satisfaction and motivation; and to determine the motivational drive of socio-demographic and job related factors in terms of improving work performance. [from abstract]

This study aimed to identify the determinants of job motivation among physicians, a neglected perspective, especially in developing countries. [from abstract]

This paper examines the extent to which health workers differ in their willingness to work in rural areas and the reasons for these differences, based on the data collected in Rwanda analysed individually and in combination with data from Ethiopia. [from introduction]

This article outlines a project that deployed short videos on mobile phones designed to motivate health workers and persuade pregnant village women to use health services. The project also asked health workers to record their own videos. The results show evidence that the creation and use of videos helped engage village women in dialogue, showed positive effects toward health worker motivation and learning, and motivated key community influencers to participate in promoting the health workers. [adapted from abstract]

Organizational factors are considered to be an important influence on health workers’ uptake of interventions that improve their practices. These are additionally influenced by factors operating at individual and broader health system levels. This article sought to explore contextual influences on worker motivation, a factor that may modify the effect of an intervention aimed at changing clinical practices in Kenyan hospitals. [from abstract]

This technical brief focuses on issues around health worker motivation, job satisfaction, incentives, retention and performance. [from author]

Most of the district health services in Malawi are provided by nurses and clinical health officers specially trained to provide services that would normally be provided by fully qualified doctors or specialists. This study explores how these cadres are managed and motivated and the impact this has on their performance. [adapted from abstract]

We carried out a literature review of studies using discrete choice experiments to investigate human resources issues related to health workers, both in developed and developing countries. Ten studies were found that used discrete choice experiments to investigate the job preferences of health care providers. The use of discrete choice experiments techniques enabled researchers to determine the relative importance of different factors influencing health workers’ choices. [from abstract]

There is growing evidence that informal payments for health care are fairly common in many low- and middle-income countries. Informal payments are reported to have a negative consequence on equity and quality of care; it has been suggested, however, that they may contribute to health worker motivation and retention. This study suggests that the practice of informal payments contributes to the general demotivation of health workers and negatively affects access to health care services and quality of the health system. [adapted from abstract]

A number of low- and middle-income countries have a severe shortage of health workers. This paper studies how health workers’ choices of labour supply and work effort impact on the quality of health services when health workers are in short supply. [from abstract]

We wanted to try to account for worker motivation as a key factor that might affect the success of an intervention to improve implementation of health worker practices in eight district hospitals in Kenya. In the absence of available tools, we therefore aimed to develop a tool that could enable a rapid measurement of motivation at baseline and at subsequent points during the 18-month intervention study. [from abstract]

This article reports on research that assessed international and national best practice in the selection of students for graduate entry medical courses in order to investigate correlations between medical student selection procedures and exposure to rural medical practice during medical training with choice of careers in rural medicine. Central to the study was the issue of the medical workforce shortage in Australia’s rural communities. [from introduction]

Mid-level cadres of health workers provide the bulk of emergency obstetric and neonatal care in Malawi. This study set out to explore the perceptions of mid-level providers regarding the factors affecting their performance and retention within the Malawian health system. [adapted from author]

Population size is often correlated with the number of physicians in a community, and is conventionally considered to represent the power of communities to attract physicians. However, associations between other demographic/economic variables and the number of physicians in a community have not been fully evaluated. This study seeks other parameters that correlate with the physician population and show which characteristics of a community determine its attractiveness to physicians. [adapted from abstract]

Work satisfaction of nurses is important, as there is sufficient empirical evidence to show that it tends to affect individual, organizational and greater health and social outcomes. This paper presents a national study that compares and contrasts satisfaction levels of nurses in both public and private sectors. [from abstract]

The current global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic has pressured health care managers, particularly in developing countries, to seek for alternative, innovative ways of delivering effective treatment to the large number of TB patients diagnosed annually. One strategy employed is direct observation of treatment for all patients. In high-burden settings innovation with this strategy has resulted into the use of lay community members to supervise TB patients during the duration of anti-TB treatment.

Health worker retention is critical for health system performance and a key problem is how best to motivate and retain health workers. The authors undertook a systematic review to consolidate existing evidence on the impact of financial and non-financial incentives on motivation and retention. [from abstract]

Health professionals face the duality of the professional and the organizational systems, each of which has its own distinct values, principles and expectations. This study presents organizational and professional commitment concepts and their relations in the context of the health sector. [adapted from introduction]

The objectives of this paper are to highlight the situation of health workers in Pacific and Asian countries to gain a better understanding of the contributing factors to health worker motivation, dissatisfaction and migration; examine the regional and global evidence on initiatives to retain a competent and motivated health workforce, especially in rural and remote areas; and suggest ways to address the shortages of health workers in Pacific and Asian countries by using incentives. [from abstract]

The Tanzanian health system is currently undergoing major reforms. As part of this, a study was commissioned into the delivery of services and care at the Muhimbili National Hospital. One of the main components of this comprehensive study was to measure the extent to which workers in the hospital were satisfied with the tasks they performed and to identify factors associated with low motivation in the workplace. [from abstract]

This paper examines the employment preferences of public sector registered nurses working in Malawi and identifies the range and relative importance of the factors that affect their motivation. The research was designed in the light of the Malawi government’s programme to address the shortage of health workers, which is based on salary top-ups as a means of increasing employee motivation and reducing high rates of attrition. This policy has been adopted despite relatively little quantitative exploration into the employment preferences of health workers in developing countries.

This article discusses the development of a decision framework to assist policymakers in choosing and designing effective incentive systems. The researchers identified several models that have proven to be effective in changing or enabling a health provider’s performance.

Staff shortages could harm the provision and quality of health care in Uganda and therefore staff retention and motivation are crucial. Understanding the impact of HIV/AIDS on staff contributes to designing appropriate retention and motivation strategies. This research aimed to identify the influence of HIV/AIDS on staff working in general hospitals at district level in rural areas and to explore support required and offered to deal with HIV/AIDS in the workplace. Results from interviews and surveys show that HIV/AIDS is an important contextual factor that impacts working conditions in various ways.

This report was commissioned to describe experiences and to provide lessons learnt with respect to interventions to retain staff and improve their productivity, competence and responsiveness. [from summary]

By measuring the ability and actual practice of a sample of clinicians in Tanzania and examining the terms of employment for these clinicians, we show that both ability and motivation are important to quality.

This report presents the findings of the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care (MOHLTC) directed research on the topic of nurse-physician relationships, and includes recommendations arising from the in depth literature review conducted and which are directed toward the Research Unit and Nursing Secretariat, at the MOHLTC.

This paper examines the experience with using various incentives to motivate and retain community health workers (CHWs) serving primarily as volunteers in child health and nutrition programs in developing countries.

This presentation was given as part of the Christian Health Association’s Conference: CHAs at a Crossroad Towards Achieving Health Millennium Development Goals. It discusses the human resources for health situation in Tanzania in general, and specific findings from the Lake zone in terms of health workers in church health institutions. The author proposes options for a motivation package to address the issues of retention for these workers.

This study evaluates an intervention to raise healthcare provider morale and retention. Two different incentives-cash and a trophy, awarded to facilities rather than individuals-were tested in two districts. The program was implemented district-wide. Health centers and other small health facilities competed for the awards and were scored on the basis of management system indicators. Interviews with staff in both districts measured the effect of the awards on staff motivation and satisfaction. [publisher’s description]