Training Motivation and Post Training Turnover Intention: Reifying the Narrative in a Community Health Nursing Training Institution in Ghana

This paper seeks to reify the narrative on the linkages between training motivations of community health nurses and their consequent post training turnover intentions, focusing on selected community health nursing trainees. This study relied on a combination of secondary and primary data sources to investigate the causal relationship between training motivation and post-training turnover intentions among selected community health nursing trainees in College of Community Health Nursing Training, Winneba, Ghana. A representative sample of 211 trainee respondents was determined based on Cochrane’s formula. In all, 150 respondents, representing 71% response rate, took part in the study. A questionnaire ad hoc was developed for the collection of primary data from the sampled respondents in June to July 2021. The data from the study was subsequently analysed through a causal path analysis after the descriptive analysis. The alternative path model established after the attainment of a Gross Fit Index was employed to conduct an analysis which centred on the level of effect, critical ratio, and p value. The measured items for training motivation demonstrated varied levels of contribution within the antecedent construct as shown by Critical Ratio (CR) ranging from 2.31 to 6.82 and the resultant statistically significant values of <0.001 to 0.021. The main causal link established to ascertain the effect of training motivation on post training turnover intention proved to be significant with an effect level of 0.18, CR of 2.11 and p value of 0.035. Individual level factors such as willingness to learn, self-confidence in knowledge acquisition in the training process, and the preparedness to invest towards the community health profession constituted some major elements for measuring training motivation. Thus, the study provides managers of community health training institutions with parameters for recruiting and selecting trainees, benchmarks for developing trainee centred and responsive modules for training and deploying community health nurses, and analytical tools for examination of trends in future human resource needs for primary healthcare in Ghana.