Factors Associated With Turnover Among Nurses In Public Health Facilities In Khomas Region Of Namibia

BSTRACT

The Khomas Region of Namibia has witnessed the exodus of skilled nurses and this has impacted on health care performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors associated with staff turnover of nurses within the public health facilities; determine the demographic factors that contribute to turnover of nurses in the public health facilities; determine the factors that are associated with turnover of nurses in the public health facilities, describe the opinions of the respondents regarding turnover and analyse and to analyse the association of demographic data and variables of each associated factor within Khomas Region of Namibia. A mixed method (triangulation) of both quantitative and qualitative approaches was used against a target population of 597 nursing staff. The stratified random sampling method was used in selecting the participants. Data analysis used was SPSS for the quantitative and Atlas.ti for the qualitative.

Findings revealed poor working conditions; unsatisfactory salary (.79 commonality), insufficient time for training (.75 commonality), lack of chance for promotion (.80) and lack of managers’encouraging participation (.80). Further outcomes indicated that nepotism, favoritism, delayed overtime payments, lack of team work, unskilled supervisors, including lack of career development, were the main factors leading to nursing turnover. An inherent limitation of the study was its cross-sectional nature thus the findings may not necessarily be reflective for all causes of nurse turnover in public health facilities in Namibia.

The following recommendations were made; the government should review nurses’ remuneration scales to correspond with those of the private sector. An exit interview system should be implemented to determine possible causes of nurse turnover, there is need to strengthen orientation and training of new employees to clarify what is expected of them.