Myanmar Nurse and Midwife Council conducted a research project entitled “Factors Affecting the attrition of Nursing Profession in Myanmar” with the grant from Department of Medical Research, Ministry of Health, Union of Myanmar. This study was presented at the 25th joint Malaysia-Singapore Nursing conference held at the Thistle hotel, in Johor Bahru Malaysia on 24th September, 2022.

Abstract

A cross-sectional correlational study aimed to assess the factors that affect the attrition of nurses and midwives in Myanmar. A sample of 220 nurse-midwives who voluntarily left the public health sector were included. Data were collected at Myanmar Nurse and Midwife Council (MNMC) office using a pretested self-administered questionnaire. Chi-square tests and Bivariate logistic regression analysis were used to examine associations between length of employment (LOE), individual characteristics, job-related factors and job satisfaction. Over a third of nurses (37.7%) left the job in the government health sector within the first three years of employment, with a mean LOE of 4.9 years (SD = 3.3; Range 1 to 19 years,). A bivariate logistic regression analysis showed four factors significantly associated with nurses’ LOE: older nurses ≥ 41 years had longer LOE than their younger counterparts (p = .036); Diploma holders were more likely to have longer LOE than bachelor/master nursing degrees holders (p =.01); staff nurse/instructor and higher posts had a longer LOE compared to trained nurse (p = .001); and nurses having experience of international further study had longer LOE compared to those who did not (p =.05). However, job satisfaction level was not associated with LOE (p = .113) for high job satisfaction level. The nurses in this study had a low level of job satisfaction. The most prevalent reasons for nurses leaving government health sector were work environment related challenges (78.4%), followed by poor pay (77.1%). The most commonly given suggestions for reducing nurses’ attrition included salary adjustments; well-defined roles, responsibilities and job description for nurses. In conclusion, this study identified the work environment difficulties and salary as main reasons for nurses leaving government health sector in Myanmar. MNMC recommended that health policy makers and administrators should consider in preventive interventions to retain nurses in government health care facilities.