Obozekhai, Esther E. and Covenant University, Theses Masters (2024) BRAIN DRAIN AMONG HEALTH WORKERS AND RETENTION STRATEGIES IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL, IBADAN, NIGERIA. Masters thesis, Covenant University.
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Abstract
The brain drain among health workers from developing to developed countries remains a critical issue on healthcare systems, notably at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. In this regard, this study gave practical and evidence-based recommendations geared at reducing the brain drain among health workers and improving the strategies for retaining them within UCH, Ibadan. The subsidiary objectives highlighted the existing retention strategies, evaluated their effectiveness, identified the deficiencies within the strategies, and how the institution's policies relate to the implementation. In this explanatory mixed-method design study, quantitative data were collected from 225 doctors and nurses using structured questionnaires, and some qualitative insights were obtained from 19 Key Informants namely, surgeons, senior consultants, assistant chief nursing officer amongst others. The findings were interpreted using SPSS software 27 for statistical analyses and ATLAS.ti 24 software for the thematic analysis. The findings indicated that UCH Ibadan retention strategies are limited and have yet to effectively mitigate the brain drain among its health workers. However, from the regression analysis it shows that the more the effective retention strategies are, the less occurrence of brain drain among health workers. The study also revealed a high positive relationship between identifiable gaps in current retention strategies and the continuous brain drain, with a correlation coefficient of 0.221, p < 0.05. On the contrary, institutional policies were not significantly associated with brain drain and maintained an extremely weak positive relationship, evidenced by the correlation coefficient of 0.092 (p > 0.05). This study was limited to UCH, Ibadan, and 2021-2023. Hence, generalisability to other healthcare institutions is limited. This research adds to understanding healthcare worker retention and brain drain dynamics at UCH, Ibadan. It provides empirical evidence for the implementation of context-specific retention strategies. Relevant stakeholders, including hospital management and institutional policymakers, must collaborate to implement targeted interventions that address identified gaps in retention strategies and institutional policies. These are efforts to stabilise healthcare workforce dynamics and ensure enhanced organisational performance. Evidence-based retention strategies can then be implemented at the UCH, Ibadan, to avert the brain drain, leading to improved job satisfaction and healthcare delivery. Among the recommendations, an overhaul of institutional policies on compensation, career development, and work-life balance is needed. This study concludes that there is a significant relationship between brain drain and retention strategies and also this study reiterates that the need for such retention strategies to be enhanced at UCH, Ibadan, is evident, as great urgency is required in the face of this brain drain among healthcare workers.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Brain Drain, Employee Retention, Healthcare Workers, Retention Strategies, University College Hospital, Ibadan |
| Subjects: | J Political Science > JA Political science (General) J Political Science > JZ International relations |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Humanities |
| Depositing User: | nwokealisi |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Sep 2024 11:38 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Sep 2024 11:38 |
| URI: | http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/18440 |
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