Building a Healthier Workforce: Tackling Burnout Among Healthcare Workers in Nigeria
Project Brief
Nigeria’s healthcare workers are the backbone of its health system—but they are under immense pressure. With critical workforce shortages, challenging working conditions, and increasing demands, burnout among healthcare workers (HCWs) has become an urgent concern. Despite this, Nigeria currently lacks a formal, published national guideline specifically addressing burnout and workforce wellbeing.
At WAFERs, we’re leading an initiative focused on understanding and addressing this gap—because we believe that caring for those who care for others is essential to strengthening health systems and achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Phase 1
From late 2024 to early 2025, we completed the first nationwide survey on burnout and wellbeing among healthcare workers in Nigeria. This foundational phase gathered vital insights from health professionals across diverse roles, settings, and regions.
The findings (currently under review) highlight a widespread need for urgent, systemic, and locally tailored
interventions. The data also reinforces the importance of developing national strategies that move beyond individual
resilience and focus on healthy workplace cultures, organisational support, and long-term staff wellbeing.
What’s Next: Phase 2 & 3
We are now preparing for the next phases of the project:
Key Informant Interviews
With healthcare leaders, policymakers, frontline workers, and institutional representatives
across Nigeria.
This will deepen our understanding of the systemic drivers of burnout, and the opportunities to embed wellbeing into organisational practice.
Consortium Development
A national consortium of experts, stakeholders, and institutions to lead the charge in addressing burnout. This group will co-create solutions, share best practices, and drive policy advocacy grounded in Nigerian realities.
Stakeholder Repository
Build a living repository of key stakeholders and champions across the health system. This network will be central
to the development, dissemination, and eventual scale-up of a national HCW wellbeing support package.
Looking Ahead: Toward Sustainable Solutions
In Phases 2 and 3, we aim to:
Pilot and evaluate its effectiveness within real-world health system settings.
Design and co-produce a practical wellbeing intervention package.
Develop policy templates and guidance that can inform national strategy.
Ensure solutions are affordable, scalable, and system-aligned.
Our approach prioritises organisational responsibility over individual blame and is committed to changing systems—not just symptoms.
Project Partners
This work is being delivered in collaboration with:
