Recruitment and retention of human
resource for health
Introduction
No country can develop without healthy people; this is because poor health is one of the
sources of low labour productivity. A nation cannot have healthy people if there is no
effective healthcare system. In this regard, the most critical factor that determines the
quality of healthcare is the quality and quantity of human resources. Although every
nation aspires to have the right number of people who are most knowledgeable, skilled,
and with the right attitude and motivation, this has remained a challenge for most na-
tions (CIPD 2008).
Various specific studies have unearthed the extent and causes of labour shortages in
both developed and developing countries. For example, in the United Kingdom, job
dissatisfaction was a major contributor for nurses quitting their jobs (Shields & Ward
2001). The same conclusions were reached in Taiwan (Tzeng 2002). In Japan, recruit-
ment and staff retention is a serious problem particularly in rural areas where both
monetary and non-monetary reward environments were not favourable (Matsumoto et
al. 2009). In South Africa, studies showed a strong positive correlation between job
dissatisfaction among nurses and turnover (Pillay 2009). Earlier, in 2000/2002, statistics
show that Uganda had a shortage of 3,172 health workers (Bataingaya 2003). Therefore,
as correctly observed by Martinez & Martinez (2002) and Wyss (2003), the major prob-
lem, and which is more serious in developing countries than in other countries, is lim-
ited government ability to train, attract, and reward staff.
In Tanzania, despite strong health reform initiatives and success in the improvement
of healthcare infrastructure and supplies, human resource shortages are equally critical.
For example, during the 2003/2004 financial year, the government supported commu-
nity efforts to build 175 dispensaries. The increase in infrastructure led to the increase in
the supply of drugs by twenty five percent and equipment by thirty percent (URT 2004;
PO-RALG 2004). However, this achievement cannot by itself improve healthcare if it