Waju Beyene salgedo, Mekonen Ayele, Gelila Abraham
Background: Health Extension program (HEP) in Ethiopia is a core component of the broader health system that is adopted with a view to achieving universal coverage of primary health care to the rural population. However there is a concern that low motivation and job dissatisfaction of Health extension workers (HEWs) may decrease the benefit of investment in the implementation HEP. Methods: a cross-sectional facility based study was conducted from January 15 to 24, 2018 in East Shoa zone of Oromia regional state, Ethiopia. 132 randomly selected Health Posts (HPs) from 8 districts and health extension workers (HEWs) workings in them were included in the study. Self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the job satisfaction and related factors. Single population formula was used to determine the sample size and simple random sampling method was used to select HPs and HEWs. Trained data collectors and supervisors collected the data. Data was entered into epidata & analyzed by SPSS 20 software. Multivariable logistic regression with 95%CI at P ≤ 0.05 was used to determine the predictors of satisfaction. Result: A total of 260 HEWs participated with the respond rate of 100%. The finding showed that 217(83.5%) of HEWs dissatisfied with their job. The major reasons reported for the dissatisfaction were lack of training opportunity, poor management and supportive supervision in problem solving, work load and lack of time for their family. Age of respondents, marital status and year of service were found to be significantly associated with job satisfaction. Conclusion: Majority of the study participants were dissatisfied with their current job. The job dissatisfaction was attributed to poor problem solving capacity, recognition and rewarding system, inadequate in-service training and upgrading. Thus, it was recommended that health managers at all levels should give due consideration to mitigate the stated conditions