An assessment of job satisfaction among primary health care workers in Rivers state, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Primary Health Care (PHC) is considered to be a more appropriate approach to health, and the health system, improving access to health services, as well as disease prevention. The availability and efficiency of PHC is a key determinant of the overall health and wellbeing of a people, and a useful yardstick for assessment of a nation's health system. Hence, PHC workforce are at the vanguard of essential health service delivery through direct contact with grassroots community members, within and without the health facilities, for provision of preventive, treatment, referral and follow-up health services. Poor motivation and non-retention of PHC workers weakens the health systems' ability to meet the above goals.
Aim: To assessed the job satisfaction of primary health care workers in Rivers State, Nigeria.
Methodology: The study utilized the descriptive cross-sectional design and the mixed methods of data collection. The quantitative method used semi-structured, pretested, self- administered questionnaires to obtain information on socio-demographic and occupational characteristics, job satisfaction, motivation, frustration, retention potentials and awareness of existing policies and incentives of respondents. The respondents which included Community Health Extension Workers (CHEW), Community Health Officers (CHO), nurses and doctors in Primary health facilities in the State, were selected using the multistage sampling method. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 software and results presented using tables and charts.
Results: A total of 378 respondents participated in the study. Nurses constituted 47.6% of the respondents, with equal proportions of CHEWs and CHOs [23.8% and 23.8% respectively] and 4.8% were doctors. The mean age of the respondents was39.8±8.1 years; with 89.7% females and 10.3% males. Of all the respondents, 79.6% were married,82% were senior cadre staff and 78.8% were Pentecostal Christians. Ikwerre, Ogoni and Kalabari had the highest distribution in ethnicity (19.3%, 14.8% and14.0% respectively). Among the respondents, 75.7% had worked for less than 7 years in their current facility while 82.9% had worked for same duration in their previous facility. Almost two third 240 (63.5%) reported that their workplace was far from their residence while 12 (3.2%) stated that it was very close. A high proportion of the respondents (78.3%) were satisfied with the general working condition in their Primary Health Care facility while 21.7% of the respondents were satisfied with the pay and promotion potentials of their work place. Notably, while 97.9% of the respondents were satisfied with their work relationships, 57.7% were satisfied with the use of their skills and abilities at their workplace and 88.1% of the respondents were satisfied with their work activities. These gave a good job satisfaction score for 88.9% of the respondents. Profession, community, distance from work and duration of work were significant factors (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: This study concluded that age, marital status, profession, and location of health facility, duration of work played vital roles in level of satisfaction of PHC workers. Hence, offering opportunities for professional advancement through training of the healthcare workers though already included in the Nigerian National Healthcare policy, should be efficiently implemented and monitored by the government and other relevant stakeholders to improve job satisfaction and in turn quality health service delivery.

Keywords: Job Satisfaction, Healthcare Workers