The Impact of Motivation on the Employees in the Public Service Organisations: A Case of TEVETA, Lusaka, Zambia

One of the major problems faced in public service organisations is lack of motivation among public service employees. The objective of this study was to identify ways of motivating public service employees at TEVETA, Lusaka, Zambia. In order to achieve this objective a study was conducted using mixed research method (triangulation approach). Three specific research objectives with three related research questions were formulated. The theoretical framework for the study was premised on the Public Service Motivation (PSM) theory [9] Data for the qualitative research was collected using two focus group discussions and a questionnaire was also administered to collect quantitative data. The population was 68 employees with a sample size of 56 employees. The qualitative data was analysed by adopting a thematic approach. Quantitative data was analysed through the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) to obtain descriptive statistical information. The two methods were used to help validate and ascertain the reliability of the research findings.  The findings indicated that in addition to financial rewards, non-financial rewards were equally important and played a major role in motivating public service employees. The study findings identified several motivating factors, key motivators and also measures that can be used to motivate employees. These factors were classified into two categories, namely intrinsic motivating factors and extrinsic motivating factors. The researcher in this study made conclusions and came up with practical implications of the study as part of the recommendations, in terms of the ways that TEVETA can use to address the problems of low motivation among its employees. Furthermore, suggestions were made on the directions of future research on Public Service Motivation (PSM)

Antimicrobial susceptibility profile of uropathogens in Maluti Adventist Hospital patients, 2011

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are amongst the most common infections encountered globally and are usually treated empirically based on bacterial resistance to antibiotics for a given region. Unfortunately in Lesotho, no published studies are available to guide doctors in the treatment of UTIs. Treatment protocols for Western countries have been adopted, which may not be applicable for this region. Aim: To determine the antimicrobial susceptibility profile of uropathogens in outpatients at the Maluti Adventist Hospital. Setting: The study was conducted at the outpatient department of the Maluti Adventist Hospital in Mapoteng, Lesotho. Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study using consecutive sampling of patients with clinical symptoms of UTI. Midstream urine samples were screened through chemistry and microscopy, then positive urine samples were cultured. The isolated uropathogens underwent antimicrobial susceptibility testing and inclusion continued until 200 culture samples were obtained. Descriptive statistics were used in the data analysis. Results: The top five cultured uropathogens were Escherichia coli (61.5%), Staphylococcus aureus (14%), Pseudomonasspecies (6.5%), Enterococcus faecalis (5.5%) and Streptococcus agalactiae (5%). The isolated uropathogens showed low sensitivity to cotrimoxazole (32.5% – 75.0%) and amoxicillin (33.2% – 87.5%) and high sensitivity to ciprofloxacin (84.0% – 95.1%) and nitrofurantoin (76.9% – 100%). Conclusion: In the Maluti setting, cotrimoxazole and amoxicillin should be avoided as first-line drugs for the empirical treatment of community-acquired UTI. We recommend the use of nitrofurantoin as first choice