MENTAL WELLNESS AND EMPLOYEE PRODUCTIVITY AMONG HEALTHCARE WORKERS IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between mental wellness and employee productivity among healthcare workers in selected healthcare facilities in Rivers State, Nigeria. The increasing psychological demands associated with healthcare service delivery and workplace stress have heightened the need for initiatives that promote the mental wellness of healthcare workers and improve their productivity. Mental wellness was examined using psychological well-being and stress management, while employee productivity was measured using task performance and contextual performance. The study was anchored on the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) Theory and adopted a correlational research design. The population comprised 280 healthcare workers drawn from 10 selected healthcare facilities in Rivers State, with a sample size of 162 determined using the Krejcie and Morgan (1970) sample size determination table. From the 162 questionnaires administered, 152 were successfully retrieved and analyzed. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that psychological well-being and stress management each had strong positive and statistically significant relationships with task performance and contextual performance. The study concludes that improved mental wellness significantly enhances employee productivity among healthcare workers. It recommends that healthcare facilities strengthen mental health support through employee counselling, stress management programmes, supportive work environments, and regular mental health assessments to improve the productivity of healthcare workers and enhance healthcare service delivery.