What Do Indonesian Nurses Want? Retaining Nurses in Rural and Remote Areas of Indonesia

Abstract

Introduction: Lack of nurses in rural and remote communities of Indonesia has been a major concern of national and provincial governments. Given that imperative the Ministry of Health implemented (MoH) the Special Assignment initiative which assigned nurses in underserved communities This study examine factors that influenced participants in the program to remain (retention) in their assigned rural setting. Methods: Survey techniques were used to collect data from a convenience sample of 140 nurses enrolled in the initiative. Variables included age, gender, marital status, financial incentives and non-financial incentives. Descriptive and correlation statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: Findings indicated that both financial incentives and nonfinancial incentives along with age correlated positively with nurses’ intention to stay in the current rural setting. Non-financial incentives were as important for these nurses especially achieving employment security as a civil servant (government employee). Younger nurses seem to be more willing to work in rural and remote areas, which may be attributable to an individual seeking practice experience along with increased financial remuneration for doing so. Conclusion: The findings of this study provide baseline descriptive information on the retention of nurses in Indonesia’s remote and rural underserved regions. Providing an attractive incentive scheme by considering certain demographic characteristic can increase their intention to serve in rural and remote area. Key words: nurse retention, rural and remote area DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14574/ojrnhc.v14i2.260