Nurses’ job preferences for working in deprived areas in Tehran: a discrete choice experiment

Abstract Background In Iran, the issue of the nursing shortage and unequal distribution exist simultaneously. The shortage of healthcare workers is one of the most important concerns of the health systems. In addition, the disparity in the distribution of healthcare workers between large metropolise...

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Main Authors: Amirmohammad Haddadfar, Sara Emamgholipour, Mohsen Razani, Mohammad Hassan Salehnejad
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2023-11-01
Series:Human Resources for Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-023-00875-9
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author Amirmohammad Haddadfar
Sara Emamgholipour
Mohsen Razani
Mohammad Hassan Salehnejad
author_facet Amirmohammad Haddadfar
Sara Emamgholipour
Mohsen Razani
Mohammad Hassan Salehnejad
author_sort Amirmohammad Haddadfar
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background In Iran, the issue of the nursing shortage and unequal distribution exist simultaneously. The shortage of healthcare workers is one of the most important concerns of the health systems. In addition, the disparity in the distribution of healthcare workers between large metropolises and remote or non-capital areas has become a serious concern and a top priority to address. We conducted this study to identify and create a sufficient understanding of the different financial and non-financial preferences of nurses for working in deprived areas. Methods This research was carried out in June and April 2022. It was carried out in three major phases. The factors influencing the nurses' job preferences were first discovered using qualitative methods. The second phase was conducting a pilot study and determining the best design for discrete choice experiment scenarios. The last phase involved publishing the questionnaire to gather information. Data were analyzed (discrete choice analysis) using JMP Pro 16 software. Results A desirable job for the participants (nurses) in this study would have a higher salary, work in a city, the Rasmi employment contract, a low workload, adequate workplace facilities, an appropriate work schedule, and 1 to 3 years spent on the assigned job to promote to a higher position. Willingness to pay (WTP) and the probability of selecting different attribute levels were also calculated and reported. For example, the highest amount of money that a nurse expected to be paid was for changing the geographical location of the workplace from a city to a deprived area. In this case, a nurse tends to receive 91.87 million IRR more to move from a city to a deprived area to work. This amount of money was by far the most among other WTPs. Conclusion The results of this study indicated that nurses are willing to forego net income in exchange for other favorable characteristics of their working environment and conditions. This shows that a variety of actions are accessible to policymakers that can greatly enhance the working conditions for nurses. The WTP and the probability of selecting various attributes may help policymakers plan more effectively.
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spelling doaj.art-f8552fb983fc4baf8b8ad0350bb114ff2023-12-03T12:25:02ZengBMCHuman Resources for Health1478-44912023-11-0121111110.1186/s12960-023-00875-9Nurses’ job preferences for working in deprived areas in Tehran: a discrete choice experimentAmirmohammad Haddadfar0Sara Emamgholipour1Mohsen Razani2Mohammad Hassan Salehnejad3Department of Health Management and Economics, Tehran University of Medical SciencesDepartment of Health Management and Economics, Tehran University of Medical SciencesDepartment of Psychology, Islamic Azad UniversityDepartment of Health Management and Economics, Tehran University of Medical SciencesAbstract Background In Iran, the issue of the nursing shortage and unequal distribution exist simultaneously. The shortage of healthcare workers is one of the most important concerns of the health systems. In addition, the disparity in the distribution of healthcare workers between large metropolises and remote or non-capital areas has become a serious concern and a top priority to address. We conducted this study to identify and create a sufficient understanding of the different financial and non-financial preferences of nurses for working in deprived areas. Methods This research was carried out in June and April 2022. It was carried out in three major phases. The factors influencing the nurses' job preferences were first discovered using qualitative methods. The second phase was conducting a pilot study and determining the best design for discrete choice experiment scenarios. The last phase involved publishing the questionnaire to gather information. Data were analyzed (discrete choice analysis) using JMP Pro 16 software. Results A desirable job for the participants (nurses) in this study would have a higher salary, work in a city, the Rasmi employment contract, a low workload, adequate workplace facilities, an appropriate work schedule, and 1 to 3 years spent on the assigned job to promote to a higher position. Willingness to pay (WTP) and the probability of selecting different attribute levels were also calculated and reported. For example, the highest amount of money that a nurse expected to be paid was for changing the geographical location of the workplace from a city to a deprived area. In this case, a nurse tends to receive 91.87 million IRR more to move from a city to a deprived area to work. This amount of money was by far the most among other WTPs. Conclusion The results of this study indicated that nurses are willing to forego net income in exchange for other favorable characteristics of their working environment and conditions. This shows that a variety of actions are accessible to policymakers that can greatly enhance the working conditions for nurses. The WTP and the probability of selecting various attributes may help policymakers plan more effectively.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-023-00875-9Discrete choice experimentJob preferences
spellingShingle Amirmohammad Haddadfar
Sara Emamgholipour
Mohsen Razani
Mohammad Hassan Salehnejad
Nurses’ job preferences for working in deprived areas in Tehran: a discrete choice experiment
Human Resources for Health
Discrete choice experiment
Job preferences
title Nurses’ job preferences for working in deprived areas in Tehran: a discrete choice experiment
title_full Nurses’ job preferences for working in deprived areas in Tehran: a discrete choice experiment
title_fullStr Nurses’ job preferences for working in deprived areas in Tehran: a discrete choice experiment
title_full_unstemmed Nurses’ job preferences for working in deprived areas in Tehran: a discrete choice experiment
title_short Nurses’ job preferences for working in deprived areas in Tehran: a discrete choice experiment
title_sort nurses job preferences for working in deprived areas in tehran a discrete choice experiment
topic Discrete choice experiment
Job preferences
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-023-00875-9
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