Work motivation of health workers and some solutions for improvement at Phu My District Health Center - Binh Dinh Province

Tóm tắt

Objectives: This study was conducted to provide an overall picture and shed some light on measures to improve motivation among health workers in Phu My district health center – Binh Dinh province in 2017.

Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional design applying a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. First, quantitative data was collected via self-administered questionnaire among the entire 295 health workers. Work motivation were measured by a seven-component scale with 23 items. Then, qualitative data were collected from 10 in-depth interviews and 5 focus group discussions among managers, representatives from departments, teams and commune health stations. 

Results: Percentage of health workers with work motivation was low (57.5%); this percentage at district level was lower than that at commune level (54.9% and 60.2%, respectively); clinical and subclinical departments had lower percentage than that in preventive care and administrative ones (47.7% and 61.4%). Motivation among management staff (60.8%) was higher than that among health professional staffs (54.2%). Several solutions to improve work motivation such as assigning tasks suitable to workload and capacity; acknowledging and encouraging contributions of health workers at both district and commune levels; offering higher salary and bonus especially to clinical and subclinical workers at district level; improving working environment and facilities; developing a clear career path and human resource policies to attract and retain talents for district level.

Conclusion: Health workers’ motivation at both district and commune levels was low. Therefore, priority should be given to solutions to improve work motivation, especially for health workers at district level.

Key words: work motivation; health worker; solutions; district health center; commune health; station