The Brain Drain Phenomenon in the Healthcare Sector: Investigating the Role of Job Satisfaction and Locus of Control

It is of great significance that healthcare professionals of every country are satisfied with their jobs since a lack of interest in the job caused by poor structure, poor remuneration, infrastructure, standards and logistics could seriously cripple the health of the populace. This study assesses job satisfaction and its influence on brain drain of healthcare professionals in Kwabre East Municipality. The study deployed the cross-sectional research design with 105 participants from selected public hospitals in Kwabre East Municipality. Correlation analysis and linear regression at a significance of p≤0.05 were used to determine the impact of job satisfaction on brain drain among the healthcare professionals in the selected healthcare facilities. The study concludes that satisfaction with professional support and satisfaction with training has a negative but not significant impact on brain drain. Personal satisfaction and satisfaction with salary and prospect have a negative significant impact on their intention to leave. Workload was also concluded to have a positive significant impact on brain drain. Job satisfaction in the workplace can be improved by investing in the logistic and human resources of the facilities where intrinsic values such as motivation and positive attitude is valued. Locus of control has a negative significant impact on the relationship between job satisfaction and brain drain. The study recommends that managers of healthcare facilities should offer well-coordinated and consistent working conditions and also strive for a competitive compensation package and infrastructure from the government to ensure optimum retention of healthcare professionals.