Health workers' perception on the work, working conditions, compensation, and carer development in a Nigerian tertiary hospital

Abstract

Background: In any organization such as an hospital, the philosophy that ensures proper utilization of human resources that would produce beneficial outcomes revolves around the emphasis on improving the employees' quality of work life, compensation system and career development.
Objective: The objective of this study is to determine health workers' perception on the work, working conditions, compensation, and career development in a Nigerian tertiary hospital
Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out using structured questionnaire and convenient sampling technique. Data were collected from 250 hospital workers. Data entry and analysis were performed using Epi Info 3.2.2 (CDC, Atlanta, Georgia, USA)
Results: The minimum and maximum ages of the respondents were 21 years and 60 years respectively. The mean, median and mode ages in the respondents were 34.6(±7.88) years, 33years, and 30 years respectively. Majority of the study respondents were in the age group of 31-40 years (30%), female (56.8%) and Doctors (36%). The respondents' positive perception on the work and work load as being reasonable were 90.4% (OR 88.67, 95%CI 47.08 – 168.99, P<0.001) and 52.4% (OR 1.21, 95%CI 0.84-1.75, P= 0.28) respectively. The respondents' positive perception on the physical working condition and comfortable office condition were 42% (OR 0.5, 95%CI 0.36-0.76, P= 0.0003) and 26% (OR 0.12, 95%CI 0.08-0.19, P< 0.001) respectively. The respondents' positive perception on being fairly paid was 49.2% (OR 0.94, 95%CI 0.65–1.35, P=0.72) whereas their positive perception on benefits and allowances being sufficient was 25.2% (OR 0.11, 95%CI 0.07-0.17, P<0.0001). The respondents' positive perception on salaries being fair according to responsibilities was 40.8% (OR 0.47, 95%CI 0.33-0.69, P<0.0001) whereas their positive perception on recognition for good work performance was 42% (OR 0.52, 95%CI 0.36- 0.76, P=0.0003). The respondents' positive perception on their growing as professional in the hospital was 70.4% (OR 5.66, 95%CI 3.79-8.47, P<0.0001) whereas their positive perception on having opportunities to learn and grow was 68.8% (OR 4.86, 95%CI 3.27- 7.23, P<0.00001). However, the respondents' positive perception on being satisfied with the amount of training offered for advancement was 32% (OR 0.22, 95%CI 0.15-0.33, P<0.0001) whereas their positive perception on whether they receive adequate technical training as per their jobs was 49.6% (OR 0.97, 95%CI 0.67-1.40, P=0.86).
Conclusion: The health workers in this study had satisfactory perception on their work while the perception on working condition, compensation and career development were unsatisfactory. Therefore, stakeholders in health sector should adopt globally accepted various facets of human resources management practices to change the negative perceptions of health workers on the working condition, compensation and career development in the tertiary hospitals in Nigeria