Industrial actions and effective administration of Nigerian healthcare systems

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Strike action is a common mechanism through which workers express their dissatisfaction with their working conditions in order to achieve a desired result. The problem of contention between government, labour unions, management, inter-professional conflicts and employees and employers has become a recurrent decimal in the Nigerian healthcare industry. This has greatly affected the morale of the workforce and the work process with the corresponding consequences is often on the patients. This study therefore sought to identify the causes of industrial actions in Nigerian hospitals, ascertain the effects of industrial actions on effective administration on Nigerian hospitals, and examine its consequences on healthcare services in Nigeria. Design/Methods: This study employed descriptive survey, which provide a picture of a situation as it naturally happens. Results: The study reveals that if there is no conducive working environment and up-to-date working equipment in the health facilities, the workers will lose interest in the job, thereby resulting to low productivity or poor service delivery. It was also discovered that some of the industrial unrest in the health sector was as a result of battle for supremacy among healthcare professionals. Conclusion: Patients are at high risk of avoidable deaths and the huge financial burden they face in sourcing for medical care at the private hospitals during industrial actions. Administration of the hospitals becomes ineffective and often leads to the collapse of administration functions in Nigeria hospitals. Government and/or hospital management needs to keep to their words by implementing agreement entered with health workers, industrial actions in the health sector will be reduced to the barest minimum. Keywords: Effective administration; Industrial action; Industrial harmony; Nigeria hospitals; Strike action