Effect of Organizational Environment on Retention of Health Workers in Hard-to-Reach Areas of Turkana County

Abstract

Health system management is a paradigm shift that emphasizes on deeper understanding of the dynamism, relationships, interactions and behavior of elements of the health system away from the disease specific approach. The study was anchored on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory and Vroom’s expectancy theory. The study made use of a descriptive research design. The target population were the health workers in Turkana County. From the population of 651 health workers, the study picked a sample of 248 health workers through stratified random sampling technique. Primary data was gathered through structured questionnaires which were self-administered. SPSS was employed for analysing the data in descriptive form. The outcome was presented in bar charts, graphs and pie charts and in prose for easier undemanding. The study also used inferential statistics to establish the relationship between the study variables. The study found and concluded that job-related incentives and task-related characteristics were significant factor in influencing retention of health workers in hard-to-reach areas of Turkana County with significance values of .000 and .001 respectively. Further, the study concludes that organizational environment and work-life balance were insignificant determinants of retention of health workers in hard-to-reach areas of Turkana County with significance values above .05 as .486 and .105 respectively. The study recommends that in order to promote the Organizational Environment the Turkana County department of health should install a programme aimed providing training and refresher courses aimed at promoting the relationships and professionalism in their everyday activities in their respective medical fields. Further recommends that in order to promote the work-life balance the ministry should develop a timing schedule which promotes the flexibility aimed at balancing the personal life of health workers with their jobs which would encourage them to stay. Also recommends that in order to promote job-related incentives the county department of health should strengthen the existing programs which promotes the training opportunities in the hospital which would eventually influence the decision to stay. Finally recommends that in order to promote task-related characteristics the county government should focus on giving the staff autonomy in making some decision or being innovative which allows the workers to put into practice their skills and abilities thereby promoting the satisfaction and eventually promoting retention.