Knowledge Integration and Service Delivery of Health Professionals in Public Hospitals in South-South Nigeria (Published)
The specific objective of the study was to ascertain the extent to which knowledge integration influences service delivery of health professionals in public hospitals in South-South Nigeria. The study employed a correlation design. A sample of 596 respondents were selected from twelve categorized public hospitals is South-South using Taro Yamani’s formula. 34 questions were formulated in the questionnaire in line with the stated objective of the study. A total of 596 copies of questionnaire were administered and 551 copies were collected showing 92 percent responses, 10 responses were rejected and 541 copies constituting 90 percent of the questionnaire were analyzed. The results showed that there is positive significant relationship between knowledge integration and service delivery of health professionals in public hospitals in South-South Nigeria. The study concluded that the integration of knowledge management in service delivery is a vital aspect of learning in healthcare organization, as new discoveries and knowledge become available to professionals in their respective fields which have to acquire, transmit, retain and use the knowledge. The study therefore, recommends that organizations of various sizes should adequately integrate knowledge management enablers’ factors in their organizational culture and leadership to enhance organizational performance and provision of service quality. The integration of new knowledge in all the units within the healthcare institutions/organizations and adequate implementation of health policies and programmes will help to transform the healthcare delivery into a more cost effective error averse and accountable public resources. There should be an increasing individuals’ confidence in integrating useful knowledge with others. Knowledge integration can be enhanced by increasing employees’ self-efficacy through training. Organizations are expected to help shape and facilitate staff perceptions of knowledge ownership which have been found to enhance their knowledge integration because of internal satisfaction.
Keywords: Knowledge, Knowledge Integration., Nigeria, Public Hospitals, Service delivery, South-South, health professionals