Predictors of willingness to task shift among family planning providers in a south-western Nigerian State

Abstract

Background: Task shifting, the balanced reallocation of tasks usually from a higher cadre to a lower cadre among the health  workforce team, has been proposed as a possible solution to the serious shortage of human resource in the health sector is being experienced in many developing countries. This study aimed to assess the views and experiences of nurses on task shifting in family planning services in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study of 400 nurses with at least a year experience in providing family planning services at purposively selected tetiary, secondary and primary facilities in Ibadan was carried out using an intervieweradministered  questionnaire. Chi-square test was used to determine association between categorical variables at 5% level of significance.

Results: Mean age of the respondents was 41.1±8.7 years and 62% of the respondents were registered nurses/registered midwives.  Although majority (91.5%) of the respondents were aware of the concept of task shifting, only 52.2% were willing to task shift family planning services to lower cadre staff and only 38.5% have actually task shifted family planning services to lower cadre staff. Age, educational status and awareness about task shifting were predictors of willingness to task shift family planning services.

Conclusion: Older registered nurses or registered midwives who were aware of the concept of task shifting were more willing to task  shift family planning services. Also, a combination of both awareness and willingness to task shift among married women enhances  the practice of task shifting of family planning services.

Keywords: Task shifting, Task sharing, Policy implementation, Family planning