Factors influencing attraction and retention of frontline health workers in remote and rural areas in Nigeria: a discrete choice experiment.

The policy thrust in Nigeria is to ensure qualified, skilled, and adequate health workforce to achieve universal health coverage. We designed a discrete choice experiment to determine the combinations of incentives that may increase the attraction and retention of frontline health workers. We conducted the study in Bauchi State amongst 145 students and health workers.

Assessing the staffing needs for primary health care centers in Cross River State, Nigeria: a workload indicators of staffing needs study.

Background: A major human resources for health challenge for Nigeria is ensuring the availability and retention of adequate competent health workers in the right mix to provide health care particularly at primary health care facilities in remote and rural communities. This study applied the Workload Indicators of Staffing Need (WISN) method to determine the numbers of nurses, midwives, community health officers (CHOs), community health extension workers (CHEWs), and junior community health extension workers (JCHEWs) required to cope with health care service delivery at primary health care facilities in Cross River State; compare workloads of different cadres at selected health facilities, and identify facilities with highest workload pressure.

Methods: Cross River State in Nigeria has 18 local governments, 196 wards, and an estimated population of over three million people.

Conceptualizing and implementing a health workforce registry in Nigeria.

Background: Nigeria's health sector aims to ensure that the right number of health workers that are qualified, skilled, and distributed equitably, are available for quality health service provision at all levels. Achieving this requires accurate and timely health workforce information. This informed the development of the Nigeria Health Workforce Registry (NHWR) based on the global, regional, and national strategies for strengthening the HRH towards achieving universal health coverage.

Perspectives of policymakers and health care managers on the retention of health workers in rural and remote settings in Nigeria.

Background: Health workers are indispensable to service delivery especially in rural and remote communities where the burden of disease is high. Nigeria faces numerous human resources for health challenges, health workers are reluctant to take up rural postings, and the government is struggling to implement planned interventions due to staff shortages. This study explored the perspectives of policymakers and primary health care (PHC) managers on factors that hinder health workers from staying in rural and remote areas and strategies for improving retention.

Estimating frontline health workforce for primary healthcare service delivery in Bauchi State, Nigeria.

Background: In Nigeria, adoption of the primary healthcare approach led to the establishment of numerous primary healthcare facilities, and training of new cadres of community health officers (CHOs), community health extension workers (CHEWs) and junior community health extension workers (JCHEWs). These new groups complemented the work of nurses and midwives.

Methods: We conducted a workload indicators of staffing needs study in the 20 local governments of Bauchi State, from March 2016 to September 2018, in all 317 ward-level primary healthcare facilities.