INSECURITY, WORKLOAD AND EMPLOYEE TURNOVER INTENTIONS IN GOVERNMENT OWNED HOSPITALS IN NIGERIA: MODERATING ROLE OF INSTITUTIONAL DISTRUST

Abstract

The rate at which medical practitioners in Nigeria are abandoning their jobs is worrying, having a negative impact on the economy and citizens in a country with over 200 million people. This study investigates the effect of human insecurity and workload on the turnover intentions of employees in Nigerian government-owned hospitals, as well as how distrust in institutional policies might accentuate the relationship. The study uses survey and cross-sectional research designs. The population of nurses and medical doctors at government-owned hospitals in Nigeria is unknown. Consequently, the study used Cochran's estimate of sample size for an infinite/unknown population to calculate a sample size of 384. To account for non-response and incorrect questionnaire completion, 20% was added to the initial sample size of 384, resulting in 461 copies given to respondents. Respondents completed an online Google questionnaire as part of the study. The 407 valid data samples were subjected to preliminary analysis, including identifying missing values, outliers, normality, multicollinearity, and common method bias. The data was confirmed clean and suitable for further examination. The Structural Equation Model, namely smart-PLS, were used to assess the measurement and structural models. The study found that while human insecurity did not significantly predict employee turnover intentions, workload had a favourable and substantial impact on employee turnover intentions. Furthermore, distrust in institutional policies exacerbates the association between human insecurity, workload, and employee turnover intentions in Nigeria's government-owned hospitals. The findings advocated for significant government engagement in battling the pandemic of workload to ensure the psychological safety of these employees.