scholarly journals Health Worker Absenteeism in Selected Health Facilities in Enugu State: Do Internal and External Supervision Matter?

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Divine Ndubuisi Obodoechi ◽  
Obinna Onwujekwe ◽  
Martin McKee ◽  
Blake Angell ◽  
Prince Agwu ◽  
...  

Background: Absenteeism is widespread in Nigerian health facilities and is a major barrier to achievement of effective Universal Health Coverage. We have examined the role of internal (by managerial staff within facilities) and external (by managers at a higher level) supervision arrangements on health worker absenteeism. Specifically, we sought to determine whether these forms of supervision have any role to play in reducing health worker absenteeism in health facilities in Enugu State Nigeria.Methods: We conducted interviews with 412 health workers in urban and rural areas of Enugu State, in South-Eastern Nigeria. We used binary logistic regression to estimate the role of different types of supervision on health worker absenteeism in selected health facilities in Enugu State.Results: Internal supervision arrangements significantly reduce health worker absenteeism (odds ratio = 0.516, p = 0.03). In contrast, existing external supervision arrangements were associated with a small but significant increase in absenteeism (OR = 1.02, 0.043). Those reporting a better financial situation were more likely to report being absent (OR = 1.36, p < 0.01) but there was no association with age and marital status of respondents. Our findings also pointed to the potential for alternative forms of supervision, provided in a supportive rather than punitive way, for example by community groups monitoring the activities of health workers but trying to understand what support these workers may need, within or beyond the work environment.Conclusion: The existing system of external supervision of absenteeism in health facilities in Nigeria is not working but alternatives that take a more holistic approach to the lived experiences of health workers might offer an alternative.

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (05) ◽  
pp. 1033-1038
Author(s):  
Ayesha Riaz ◽  
Sher Muhammad ◽  
Ijaz Ashraf ◽  
Aisha Siddique ◽  
Khalid Mahmood Ch

Despite the fact that women account for more than half of the total worldpopulation, they are still not considered equal to men. The health of rural women in Pakistanis very poor because of the lack of health services and competent health workers. Besidesgovernment health centres, hospitals and many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)are also working in the rural areas for providing social services to rural women. Punjab RuralSupport Programme is also working for socio-economic empowerment of rural women. PRSPbegan to provide health facilities to the poor people in villages through Basic Health Units(BHUs). Objectives: To analyze the role of PRSP in providing health facilities to women in ruralarea. Design: A multistage simple random sampling technique was used for the study. Setting:District Faisalabad. Material & Methods: The population for the study consisted of rural womenonly who were members of the Community Organizations (COs) of PRSP. Out of the eight townsof district Faisalabad, four towns which cover rural areas (Samundri, Iqbal town, Jaranwala,and Chak Jhumra) were selected. Four field units of PRSP are working in these four towns i.e.Salarwala in Chak Jhumra, Satiana in Jaranwala, Khidarwala in Samundri, and Dijkot in IqbalTown. These field units had 214, 203, 170 and 238 female COs, respectively. A sample of 10%COs was selected from each field unit randomly. Thus the total selected COs were 82. Fivemembers from each CO were selected at random. In this way the total sample size for the studywas 410 respondents. A reliable and validated data collection instrument consisting of openand close ended questions was used. The data were analyzed using SPSS. It was concludedthat respondents were satisfied with certain facilities like availability of female doctors in BHUs,availability of medicines and availability of competent and qualified paramedics. Provision ofbasic tests (blood, sugar, pregnancy and haemoglobin etc.) was very weak area which neededmuch improvement. Conclusions: It was also concluded that respondents were satisfied withthe behaviour of staff at BHUs. However, provision of basic medical equipment needed attentionfrom the authorities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Saiendhra Vasudevan Moodley ◽  
Muzimkhulu Zungu ◽  
Molebogeng Malotle ◽  
Kuku Voyi ◽  
Nico Claassen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Health workers are crucial to the successful implementation of infection prevention and control strategies to limit the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 at healthcare facilities. The aim of our study was to determine SARS-CoV-2 infection prevention and control knowledge and attitudes of frontline health workers in four provinces of South Africa as well as explore some elements of health worker and health facility infection prevention and control practices. Methods A cross-sectional study design was utilised. The study population comprised both clinical and non-clinical staff working in casualty departments, outpatient departments, and entrance points of health facilities. A structured self-administered questionnaire was developed using the World Health Organization guidance as the basis for the knowledge questions. COVID-19 protocols were observed during data collection. Results A total of 286 health workers from 47 health facilities at different levels of care participated in the survey. The mean score on the 10 knowledge items was 6.3 (SD = 1.6). Approximately two-thirds of participants (67.4%) answered six or more questions correctly while less than a quarter of all participants (24.1%) managed to score eight or more. A knowledge score of 8 or more was significantly associated with occupational category (being either a medical doctor or nurse), age (< 40 years) and level of hospital (tertiary level). Only half of participants (50.7%) felt adequately prepared to deal with patients with COVD-19 at the time of the survey. The health workers displaying attitudes that would put themselves or others at risk were in the minority. Only 55.6% of participants had received infection prevention and control training. Some participants indicated they did not have access to medical masks (11.8%) and gloves (9.9%) in their departments. Conclusions The attitudes of participants reflected a willingness to engage in appropriate SARS-CoV-2 infection prevention and control practices as well as a commitment to be involved in COVID-19 patient care. Ensuring adequate infection prevention and control training for all staff and universal access to appropriate PPE were identified as key areas that needed to be addressed. Interim and final reports which identified key shortcomings that needed to be addressed were provided to the relevant provincial departments of health.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Mugambe ◽  
Habib Yakubu ◽  
Solomon Wafula ◽  
Tonny Ssekamatte ◽  
Simon Kasasa ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Child birth in health facilities is generally associated with lower risk of maternal and neonatal mortality. However, in Uganda, little is known about factors that influence use of health facilities for delivery especially in rural areas. In this study, we examined the determinants of mothers’ decision of the choice of child delivery place in Western Uganda.Methods: Cross-sectional data was collected from 894 randomly-sampled mothers within the catchment of two private hospitals in Rukungiri and Kanungu districts. Data was collected on the place of delivery for the most recent child, mothers’ sociodemographic characteristics, health facility water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) status. Modified Poisson regression was used to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) for the determinants of mothers’ choice of delivery place as well as determinants for the choice of private versus public facility for delivery at 95% confidence intervals. Results: Majority of mothers (90.2%) delivered in health facilities. Non-facility deliveries were attributed to fast progression of labour (77.3%), lack of transport (31.8%) and high cost of hospital delivery (12.5%). Being engaged in business as an occupation [APR = 1.06, 95% CI (1.01 – 1.11)] and belonging to the highest wealth quintile [APR = 1.09, 95% CI (1.02 – 1.17)] favoured facility delivery while higher parity of 3 – 4 [APR = 0.93, 95% CI (0.88 – 0.99)] was inversely associated with facility delivery as compared to parity of 1-2. Choice of private facility over public facility was influenced by how mothers valued factors such as high skilled health workers [APR = 1.15, 95% CI (1.05 – 1.26)], higher quality of WASH services [APR = 1.11, 95% CI (1.04 – 1.17)], cost of the delivery [APR = 0.85, 95% CI (0.78 – 0.92)] and availability of caesarean services [APR = 1.13, 95% CI (1.08 – 1.19)].Conclusion: Utilization of health facility child delivery services was high. Health facility delivery service utilization was influenced by engaging in business, belonging to wealthiest quintile and being multiparous. Choice of private versus public health facility for child delivery was influenced by health facility WASH status, cost of services, and availability of skilled workforce and caesarean services.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muzimkhulu Zungu ◽  
Kuku Voyi ◽  
Nosimilo Mlangeni ◽  
Saiendhra Vasudevan Moodley ◽  
Jonathan Ramodike ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Health workers, in short supply in many low-and-middle-income countries, are at increased risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection. This study aimed to assess how South Africa, prepared to protect its health workers from SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods This was a cross-sectional study design applying participatory action research in four provinces of South Africa. A semi-structured questionnaire and a qualitative observational HealthWISE walkthrough risk assessment was carried out to collect data on occupational safety and health (OSH) systems in 45 hospitals across four provinces to identify factors associated with health worker protection. Adapting the International Labour Organization (ILO) and World Health Organization (WHO) HealthWISE tool, we compiled compliance scores through walkthrough surveys. We used logistic regression to analyze the relationship between readiness indicators and the actual implementation of protective measures. Results We found that health facilities in all four provinces had SARS-CoV-2 plans for the general population but no comprehensive OHS plan for health workers. Provincial Departments of Health (PDoH) varied in how they were organized to respond: Provinces A and D had an OSH SARS-CoV-2 provincial coordinating team and a dedicated budget for occupational health; Province A had an occupational health doctor and nurse; while Province B had an occupational health nurse; Province A and D PDoHs had functional OSH committees; and Province D had conducted some health risk assessments specific to SARS-CoV-2. However, none of the assessed health facilities had an acceptable HealthWISE compliance score (≥ 75%) due to poor ventilation and inadequate administrative control measures. While the supply of personal protective equipment was adequate, it was often not worn properly. Our study found that having an OSH SARS-CoV-2 policy was significantly associated with higher personal protective equipment and ventilation scores. In addition, our analysis showed that hospitals with higher compliance scores had significantly lower infection rates (IRR 0.98; 95% CI: 0.97, 0.98). Conclusions Despite some initial preparedness, greater effort to protect health workers is still warranted. Low-and-middle-income countries may need to pay more attention to OSH systems and consider using tools, such as ILO/WHO HealthWISE tool, to protect health workers’ health.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas P Oliphant ◽  
Nicolas Ray ◽  
Khaled Bensaid ◽  
Adama Ouedraogo ◽  
Asma Yaroh Gali ◽  
...  

Background Little is known about the geography of community health workers (CHWs), their contribution to geographical accessibility of primary health care (PHC) services, and strategies for optimizing efficiency of CHW deployment in the context of universal health coverage (UHC). Methods Using a complete georeferenced census of front-line health facilities and CHWs in Niger and other high resolution spatial datasets, we modelled travel times to front-line health facilities and CHWs between 2000-2013, accounting for training, essential commodities, and maximum population capacity. We estimated additional CHWs needed to maximize geographical accessibility of the population beyond the reach of existing front-line health facilities and CHWs. We assessed the efficiency of geographical targeting of the existing CHW network compared to modelled CHW networks designed to optimize geographical targeting of the estimated population, under-five deaths, and plasmodium falciparum malaria cases. Results The percent of the population within 60 minutes walking to the nearest CHW increased from 0·0% to 17·5% between 2000-2013, with 15·5% within 60 minutes walking to the nearest CHW trained on integrated community case management (iCCM) — making PHC services and iCCM, specifically, geographically accessible for an estimated 2·3 million and 2·0 million additional people, respectively. An estimated 10·4 million people (59·0%) remained beyond a 60-minute catchment of front-line health facilities and CHWs. Optimal deployment of 8064 additional CHWs could increase geographic coverage of the estimated total population from 41·5% to 73·6%. Geographical targeting of the existing CHW network was inefficient but optimized CHW networks could improve efficiency by 55·0%-81·9%, depending on targeting metric. Interpretations We provide the first high-resolution maps and estimates of geographical accessibility to CHWs at national scale, highlighting improvements between 2000-2013 in Niger, geographies where gaps remained, approaches for improving targeting, and the importance of putting CHWs on the map to inform planning in the context of UHC.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. e0246546
Author(s):  
Charles Kiyaga ◽  
Vijay Narayan ◽  
Ian McConnell ◽  
Peter Elyanu ◽  
Linda Nabitaka Kisaakye ◽  
...  

Introduction A review of Uganda’s HIV Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) program in 2010 revealed poor retention outcomes for HIV-exposed infants (HEI) after testing. The review informed development of the ‘EID Systems Strengthening’ model: a set of integrated initiatives at health facilities to improve testing, retention, and clinical care of HIV-exposed and infected infants. The program model was piloted at several facilities and later scaled countrywide. This mixed-methods study evaluates the program’s impact and assesses its implementation. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study at 12 health facilities in Uganda, comprising all HEI tested by DNA PCR from June 2011 to May 2014 (n = 707). Cohort data were collected manually at the health facilities and analyzed. To assess impact, retention outcomes were statistically compared to the baseline study’s cohort outcomes. We conducted a cross-sectional qualitative assessment of program implementation through 1) structured clinic observation and 2) key informant interviews with health workers, district officials, NGO technical managers, and EID trainers (n = 51). Results The evaluation cohort comprised 707 HEI (67 HIV+). The baseline study cohort contained 1268 HEI (244 HIV+). Among infants testing HIV+, retention in care at an ART clinic increased from 23% (57/244) to 66% (44/67) (p < .0001). Initiation of HIV+ infants on ART increased from 36% (27/75) to 92% (46/50) (p < .0001). HEI receiving 1st PCR results increased from 57% (718/1268) to 73% (518/707) (p < .0001). Among breastfeeding HEI with negative 1st PCR, 55% (192/352) received a confirmatory PCR test, a substantial increase from baseline period. Testing coverage improved significantly: HIV+ pregnant women who brought their infants for testing after birth increased from 18% (67/367) to 52% (175/334) (p < .0001). HEI were tested younger: mean age at DBS test decreased from 6.96 to 4.21 months (p < .0001). Clinical care for HEI was provided more consistently. Implementation fidelity was strong for most program components. The strongest contributory interventions were establishment of ‘EID Care Points’, integration of clinical care, longitudinal patient tracking, and regular health worker mentorship. Gaps included limited follow up of lost infants, inconsistent buy-in/ownership of health facility management, and challenges sustaining health worker motivation. Discussion Uganda’s ‘EID Systems Strengthening’ model has produced significant gains in testing and retention of HEI and HIV+ infants, yet the country still faces major challenges. The 3 core concepts of Uganda’s model are applicable to any country: establish a central service point for HEI, equip it to provide high-quality care and tracking, and develop systems to link HEI to the service point. Uganda’s experience has shown the importance of intensively targeting systemic bottlenecks to HEI retention at facility level, a necessary complement to deploying rapidly scalable technologies and other higher-level initiatives.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (12) ◽  
pp. 481
Author(s):  
Candra Candra ◽  
Lutfan Lazuardi ◽  
Mubasysyir Hasanbasri

Absenteeism among primary health center workers: an analysis of the 2012 IFLS in Eastern IndonesiaPurposeThe study aimed to determine the determinants for absence of health centre employees in urban and rural areas in the eastern Indonesian region using data IFLS East 2012.MethodsThis study was a quantitative research using secondary data analysis of Indonesian family life survey (IFLS) East 2012 with health professionals using a cross-sectional design. The population was all health workers in seven provinces in Eastern Indonesia (Nusa Tenggara Timur, East Kalimantan, South East Sulawesi, Maluku, North Maluku, Papua, West Papua). The research sample totaled 1809 health workers. Analysis used STATA version 12.ResultsThe results of bivariable analysis on the variables gender, type of health worker, tenure, health center locations showed a significant relationship with absenteeism the health center employee. The results showed from the multivariable analysis showed higher odds ratio at rural health centers versus urban locations with absenteeism of health center employee, but there was no significant difference.ConclusionThe absenteeism of health center employees is influenced by various multi-factors especially gender, types of health worker, tenure and health center locations. Increased capacity in the management by health center managers, broader authority to enforce discipline, and monitoring by the community is expected to decrease absenteeism of health center employees.


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-161
Author(s):  
Izza Suraya ◽  
Hidayati Hidayati ◽  
Rizka Ariesta Putranti ◽  
Apriyanto Apriyanto ◽  
Julia Julia

Immunization is effective way to reduce morbidity and mortality of infectious diseases. However, there is only 59,2% early child in Indonesia is fully immunized. Health workers have an important role in that practice. Immunization status of children in Ciampea and Kalibata Early Childhood School has not known Their health worker�s role either. Therefore, this study was conducted to know the role of health worker in early childhood students in Ciampea and Kalibata Preschool. This study used a cross-sectional design. With quota as its sampling technique, there were 145 early child aged 12-59 months. multivariate. After multivariate analysis, the result of this study describes there is health worker advice is significantly associated with primary immunization with AOR 5,27 (95%CI: 1,05 � 26,32) dan p-value = 0,043. The mother who had to advise from health workers is 5,27 likely had fully immunized their children. Hence, health workers capacity should be increased to get more fully immunized early child.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
O Omwujekwe

Abstract Background Absenteeism is widespread across the Nigerian health sector among all cadres of providers. Little is known about the health worker incentives and drivers of absenteeism among staff working in primary health care settings in rural areas in Enugu State. Methods We focused on six primary care centers in rural and urban regions in Enugu State, south-east Nigeria. We conducted in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with 70 respondents living nearby: comprising 12 frontline health workers, 12 healthcare managers, 6 Health Facility Committee leaders and 40 service users. We used thematic data analysis, drawing on conceptualisations of culture and gender. Results Socio-cultural causes of absenteeism included gender roles (caregiving responsibilities, home keeping, child bearing issues, etc.), marital status, attending to social events and cultural ceremonies. Consequently, women were more likely to be absent than men, given traditional roles (e.g. home keeping, caregiving, farming) and child bearing. Male absenteeism reflected a need to generate additional income through dual practice and other jobs. Sanctions against those absent was similar for men and women. Individual health workers who were connected to politically powerful individuals “godmothers” or “godfathers” were able to use these connections to improve their placements and protect themselves from potential sanction. Conclusions Effective strategies to tackle absenteeism will require socio-economic and these factors to be taken into account when addressing health systems and structural factors. Long-term change also requires addressing the power imbalances that give rise to these conditions, something that is likely to be especially challenging.


Author(s):  
Retno Setyo Iswati

During the Covid-19 pandemic, social restrictions applied in various regions affected the schedule and procedures for immunization services in health facilities. People are worried that coming to health facilities to provide immunizations for their children, causing immunization coverage to fall so that community immunity is not formed, can lead to Extraordinary Events of Diseases that Can Be Prevented by Immunization (KLB PD3I). Health workers in providing immunization services play a very important role in the success of the immunization program. The aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between the role of health workers and the complete basic immunization coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic. The research design used was a survey method with a quantitative approach. The sample was 46 respondents, the sample was taken using purposive sampling. The research instrument consisted of the role of health workers and complete basic immunization coverage which was distributed online. Data were analyzed using the Chi-Square test. The result of the research found that the role of health workers in providing immunization services was in the "Good" category (67.4%), complete basic immunization coverage was in the "Less" category (71.7%), so it can be concluded that there is no relationship between the role of health workers and the coverage. complete basic immunization during the Covid-19 pandemic


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