Recruitment and retention of health professionals across Europe: A literature review and multiple case study research.
Many European countries are faced with health workforce shortages and the need to develop effective recruitment and retention (R&R) strategies. Yet comparative studies on R&R in Europe are scarce. This paper provides an overview of the measures in place to improve the R&R of health professionals across Europe and offers further insight into the evidence base for R&R; the interaction between policy and organisational levels in driving R&R outcomes; the facilitators and barriers throughout these process; and good practices in the R&R of health professionals across Europe. The study adopted a multi-method approach combining an extensive literature review and multiple-case study research. 64 publications were included in the review and 34 R&R interventions from 20 European countries were included in the multiple-case study. We found a consistent lack of evidence about the effectiveness of R&R interventions. Most interventions are not explicitly part of a coherent package of measures but they tend to involve multiple actors from policy and organisational levels, sometimes in complex configurations. A list of good practices for R&R interventions was identified, including context-sensitivity when implementing and transferring interventions to different organisations and countries. While single R&R interventions on their own have little impact, bundles of interventions are more effective. Interventions backed by political and executive commitment benefit from a strong support base and involvement of relevant stakeholders.
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Catholic University Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 35 blok d-bus 7001, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: Marieke.Kroezen@kuleuven.be.
Marieke
M
Kroezen
International Public Health and Biostatistics Unit, Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Global Health & Tropical Medicine Centre (GHTM), WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Workforce Policy and Planning, New University of Lisbon, Rua da Junqueira 100, 1349-008 Lisbon, Portugal. Electronic address: gillesdussault@ihmt.unl.pt.
Gilles
G
Dussault
International Public Health and Biostatistics Unit, Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Global Health & Tropical Medicine Centre (GHTM), WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Workforce Policy and Planning, New University of Lisbon, Rua da Junqueira 100, 1349-008 Lisbon, Portugal. Electronic address: isabelc@ihmt.unl.pt.
Isabel
I
Craveiro
Royal Tropical Institute, PO Box 95001, 1090 HA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: m.dieleman@kit.nl.
Marjolein
M
Dieleman
Royal Tropical Institute, PO Box 95001, 1090 HA Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Electronic address: C.Jansen@kit.nl.
Christel
C
Jansen
Centre for Midwifery, Child and Family Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology, 235-253 Jones Street, Ultimo NSW 2007, Sydney, NSW, Australia; School of Health, Queen Margaret University, Musselburgh EH21 6UU, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Electronic address: JBuchan@qmu.ac.uk.
James
J
Buchan
Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, King's College, 57 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8WA, United Kingdom. Electronic address: louise.barriball@kcl.ac.uk.
Louise
L
Barriball
Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, King's College, 57 Waterloo Road, London SE1 8WA, United Kingdom. Electronic address: anne_marie.rafferty@kcl.ac.uk.
Anne Marie
AM
Rafferty
European Health Management Association, Rue Belliard 15-17, 1040 Brussels, Belgium. Electronic address: Jeni.Bremner@ehma.org.
Jeni
J
Bremner
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Catholic University Leuven, Kapucijnenvoer 35 blok d-bus 7001, 3000 Leuven, Belgium. Electronic address: Walter.Sermeus@med.kuleuven.be.
Walter
W
Sermeus
D035843:Biomedical Research; D005060:Europe; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010558:Personnel Loyalty; D010560:Personnel Selection / Q000458:organization & administration*
Europe; Health human resources; Health professionals; Literature review; Multiple case study; Recruitment and retention