Industrial Action by Healthcare Workers in Nigeria in 2013 - 2015: An Inquiry into Causes, Consequences and Control. A Cross-sectional Descriptive Study.
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Abstract:
Background: Healthcare worker strikes involving all categories of healthcare workers are common in Nigeria. The purpose of this study was to identify the root cause(s) of healthcare worker strikes, the effect on the health system and possible solutions to prevent, or at least reduce industrial actions.
Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive survey approach was used. A self-administered questionnaire was administered between February and March, 2015. Data were analyzed using Epi DataTM and SPSS 21.
Results: A total of 150 healthcare workers participated in the study, of which 62 (41.3%) were males, 86 (57.3%) married, 90 (60.0%) Christians, and 119 (79.3%) were graduates, and about half of the participants earned less than N129,000.00 (US$737.00) per month. Less than half of the participants (43.6%) supported industrial actions. Poor healthcare leadership and management were cited as the most common (92%), as well as the most important (43.3%) cause of healthcare worker strikes in Nigeria. Other cited causes were a demand for higher salaries and wages (82%), infrastructural issues (63.3%) and inter-personal issues (61.3%). Only 2.0% rated current health care management as excellent, while 24.0% rated it as very good. Several strategies were cited towards improving healthcare management.
Conclusion: The findings of this study differ from previous studies that identified demand for increased salaries and wages as the commonest cause of healthcare worker strikes in Nigeria. Training doctors in health management and leadership, towards building skilled physician-leaders, is a strategy that is long overdue in Nigeria.
Background: Healthcare worker strikes involving all categories of healthcare workers are common in Nigeria. The purpose of this study was to identify the root cause(s) of healthcare worker strikes, the effect on the health system and possible solutions to prevent, or at least reduce industrial actions.
Methodology: A cross-sectional descriptive survey approach was used. A self-administered questionnaire was administered between February and March, 2015. Data were analyzed using Epi DataTM and SPSS 21.
Results: A total of 150 healthcare workers participated in the study, of which 62 (41.3%) were males, 86 (57.3%) married, 90 (60.0%) Christians, and 119 (79.3%) were graduates, and about half of the participants earned less than N129,000.00 (US$737.00) per month. Less than half of the participants (43.6%) supported industrial actions. Poor healthcare leadership and management were cited as the most common (92%), as well as the most important (43.3%) cause of healthcare worker strikes in Nigeria. Other cited causes were a demand for higher salaries and wages (82%), infrastructural issues (63.3%) and inter-personal issues (61.3%). Only 2.0% rated current health care management as excellent, while 24.0% rated it as very good. Several strategies were cited towards improving healthcare management.
Conclusion: The findings of this study differ from previous studies that identified demand for increased salaries and wages as the commonest cause of healthcare worker strikes in Nigeria. Training doctors in health management and leadership, towards building skilled physician-leaders, is a strategy that is long overdue in Nigeria.
Date Issued
2016-07-27
Date Acceptance
2016-07-19
Citation
Human Resources for Health, 2016, 14
ISSN
1478-4491
Publisher
BioMed Central
Journal / Book Title
Human Resources for Health
Volume
14
Copyright Statement
© 2016 Oleribe et al. Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
License URL
Sponsor
Association of Physicians of Great Britain & Ireland
Grant Number
N/A
Subjects
Nigeria
healthcare worker
strikes
industrial actions
health system
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
46