Magnitude of Turnover Intention and Associated Factors among Health Professionals Working in Public Health Institutions of North Shoa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Health workers are one of the most important building blocks of the health system. High turnover rate contribute to the shortfalls and unbalanced distribution of health personnel in the health workforce. Turnover intention is the strongest predictor of actual turnover. OBJECTIVE: To assess the magnitude of turnover intention and associated factors among health professionals working in public health institutions of North Shoa Zone, Amhara region, Ethiopia. METHODS: A health facility based cross-sectional study was conducted from March to April 2016, on 612 health professionals working in public health institutions of North Shoa Zone, Amhara region, Ethiopia, using a multistage stratified sampling technique. Data were collected using a pretested self-administered structured questionnaire. The data were entered using Epidata version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 22 software. Descriptive statistics were conducted to summarize the sample characteristics. Backward stepwise logistic regression model was fitted and AOR with 95% CI was calculated to identify the associated factors. P-value <0.05 was taken as a cut-off point for statistical significance. Ethical issues were addressed. RESULTS: Among the 568 health professionals who responded to the questionnaire, 348 (61.3%) of them reported to have the intention to leave their current workplaces. The results showed that being a male [AOR = 1.496 (95% CI: 1.016, 2.204)], medical doctor [AOR = 0.318 (95% CI: 0.122, 0.824)], unsatisfied with the work nature [AOR = 1.822 (95% CI: 1.206, 2.753)], unsatisfied with the incentives [AOR = 1.668 (95% CI: 1.105, 2.517)], and unsatisfied with the supervision [AOR = 1.916 (95% CI: 1.274, 2.881)] and having low normative commitment [AOR = 2.176 (95% CI: 1.482, 3.196)] were significantly associated with turnover intention of the health professionals. CONCLUSIONS: The magnitude of turnover intention was high among health professionals working in public health institutions of North Shoa Zone. Health service managers and policymakers should develop evidence based retention strategies considering the determinants of health professionals' intention to leave.