Factors Influencing Absenteeism of Health Workers at China-Uganda Friendship Hospital, Naguru, Kampala City Authority, Uganda.

Abstract

The study was set out to investigate the influence of absenteeism among health workers aimed at pointing out; factors influencing absenteeism, the level of absenteeism and the related financial loss of the facility. It was conducted at China-Uganda Friendship Hospital, Naguru, Uganda. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was used as the study design; both qualitative and quantitative data was collected using structured and semi-structured questionnaires and 80 respondents were enrolled. The key findings showed that the leading factors include: sickness of individuals (32%), delayed payments (10%), longer distance from facility (10%), non-commitment (23%), and attendance to private business (9%), lack of motivation (4%), and others (10%). The majority of staff were aged (20-30) years and were mainly females (72%). The health workers who had served in public service (1-4) years were (52%) and live beyond 5KM from the hospital. The rate of understanding absenteeism was at 74%, which indicated that they knew the meaning of why they absent themselves. However, the management devised means of minimizing absenteeism, which included; discontinuation (15%), writing a formal apology (53%), and more work hours (12%). The anticipated consequences included; loss of job (9%), misunderstandings (48%), workload (19%) and non-attendance to some patients. The study concluded that quality service provision was complex and multi-dimensional matter involving various influencing factors, to mention a few; actively encourage the health team at Naguru hospital to develop self-conscious in relation to the work, provide incentives, make reasonable payment, and provide a conducive work environment.