Willingness to work as frontline Health care providers during COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria
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Abstract
Background: Health care workers (HCW) are at the forefront of COVID-19 outbreak responses. As the pressure on the global health care workforce intensifies, there is a need to mobilize relevant HCWs to the frontline of prevention and control activities. This study assessed the willingness of HCW to participate as frontline care providers during COVID-19 prevention and control in South-western Nigeria.
Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted among 709 healthcare providers serially recruited through an online survey. Research instrument was a semi structured pretested, self-administered questionnaire. Data was analyzed using the SPSS software version 23.0.
Results: Fifty-four percent opined that Nigeria presently lacks human resource capacity to manage the ongoing pandemic. While 64.9% were willing to work as frontline health care provider in COVID-19 control, about 81.5% of the respondents would work on some conditions, and 76.0% would work voluntarily. About 19.7% stated that they were not at risk of contracting COVID-19. Barriers to volunteering included “lack of confidence in Government/employer caring for the health worker if infected” (97%). Significant predictors of willingness to work as front line HCWs include being a male (OR 3.8), spending less than 10 years in practice (OR 2.75), availability of PPEs (OR 3.57); payment of special allowance (OR 1.56); increment of hazard allowance (OR 2.29); and prior training on IPC (OR 2.85).
Conclusion: Governments and other stakeholders need to remove listed barriers and encourage motivators to work as frontline health care workers to facilitate COVID-19 control in Nigeria.
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