Abstract
BackgroundA discrete choice experiment was conducted to investigate preferences for job characteristics among nursing students and practicing nurses to determine how these groups vary in their respective preferences and to understand whether differing policies may be appropriate for each group.MethodsParticipating students and workers were administered a discrete choice experiment that elicited preferences for attributes of potential job postings. Job attributes included salary, duration of service until promotion to permanent staff, duration of service until qualified for further study and scholarship, housing provision, transportation provision, and performance-based financial rewards. Mixed logit models were fit to the data to estimate stated preferences and willingness to pay for attributes. Finally, an interaction model was fit to formally investigate differences in preferences between nursing students and practicing nurses.ResultsData were collected from 256 nursing students and 249 practicing nurses. For both groups, choice of job posting was strongly influenced by salary and direct promotion to permanent staff. As compared to nursing students, practicing nurses had significantly lower preference for housing allowance and housing provision as well as lower preference for provision of transportation for work and personal use.ConclusionsIn the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, nursing students and practicing nurses demonstrated important differences in their respective preferences for rural job posting attributes. This finding suggests that it may be important to differentiate between recruitment and retention policies when addressing human resources for health challenges in developing countries, such as Laos.
Highlights
A discrete choice experiment was conducted to investigate preferences for job characteristics among nursing students and practicing nurses to determine how these groups vary in their respective preferences and to understand whether differing policies may be appropriate for each group
There were no bonuses provided to nurses for working in rural areas, though such bonuses were under consideration by the Ministry of Health (MOH) [5]
The findings we present in this study suggest that it may be important to differentiate recruitment and retention policies when addressing Human resources for health (HRH) challenges in developing countries, such as Laos
Summary
A discrete choice experiment was conducted to investigate preferences for job characteristics among nursing students and practicing nurses to determine how these groups vary in their respective preferences and to understand whether differing policies may be appropriate for each group. As in many countries, a disproportionate number of nurses in Laos live and work in urban centers, leaving rural populations with limited access to skilled clinicians [3]. A recent study of the nurse workforce situation in Laos found that staffing shortages in the country do not stem from emigration [4]. As of 2012, there were limited programs in place to incentivize nurses to live and work in rural areas. There were no bonuses provided to nurses for working in rural areas, though such bonuses were under consideration by the MOH [5]. At that time there were no conditional scholarship programs in the country that required nurses to fulfill a commitment to work in rural areas after receiving financial support for training
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