Rethinking Issues of Migration and Brain Drain of Health-Related Professionals: New Perspectives

Chux Gervase Iwu

doi:10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n10p198

Abstract

The intention of this study was not to particularly engage issues of health worker brain drain and migration, but to reveal some of those elements which can motivate and retain health-related professionals in South Africa. Data for this study was collected with the help of Plus Delta Organisational Climate Questionnaire. This instrument was deemed fit for the study considering its previous applications and also because it contains both job satisfaction and organisational climate elements. With the help of factor analysis, the study identified seven factors which influence employee satisfaction within the health related professions of South Africa. These factors are Role Clarification and Job Design; Equitable Performance Management; Integrated Leadership and Knowledge Sharing; Self-efficacy; Family-friendly Work Environments; Leader Credibility and Innovation and Excellent Customer Relations and Technology. The paper concludes by suggesting that these factors should be present in organisations in order to stem the tide of brain drain and migration of South African health-related professionals. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n10p198

Highlights

The intention of this study was not to engage issues of health worker brain drain and migration, but to reveal some of those elements which can motivate and retain health-related professionals in South Africa
The paper concludes by suggesting that these factors should be present in organisations in order to stem the tide of brain drain and migration of South African health-related professionals
Kline (2002:1) regards factor analysis as the best statistical technique for psychological studies as well as the social sciences. Another reason why factor analysis was chosen for this study was because of its exploratory nature (Zikmund et al, 2010: 593), which supports the nature of this study – an exploratory study that wished to develop a model of health worker satisfaction within the health related professions of South Africa because no model of this nature currently exists within the health related professions of South Africa

Summary

Brain drain

Research reveals that there are lots of factors that exacerbate the brain-drain of healthcare professionals These include economic, social, political and cultural factors, globalisation, improved communication and targeted migration (Ikenwilo, 2007:1). The cost of outflow of healthcare professionals can be somewhat substantial, when the less-developed economies invest in educating their healthcare workers only to have them leave for wealthier nations. This could make the rich nations richer and the poor nations poorer, and a curse for economic development (Serour, 2009:176). The already fragile healthcare services in less-developed countries, among aspects such as maternal and neonatal health (Serour, 2009:178)

Migration

Data Collection

Findings

The model explained

Conclusion and Recommendations