Summary
The aim of this study was to investigate whether rural clinical placements for student
nurses at a rural university in New South Wales influence their decision to join the
rural and remote Registered Nurse workforce. The study utilised a convenience sample
of final year Bachelor of Nursing students at a rural university campus, and consisted
of two stages of data collection. Stage One employed a pre- and post-clinical placement
survey design that elicited both demographic and qualitative data. Stage Two consisted
of individual interviews with a sample of final year nursing students while they were
on a rural clinical placement. The findings highlight the factors that influence final
year students’ decisions to seek employment in rural healthcare facilities. These
findings will be of interest to nurse academics concerned with ensuring that undergraduate
nursing curricula relate to rural nursing practice in Australia and to those involved
in recruitment of new graduate RN's to rural nursing practice.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
October 11,
2007
Identification
Copyright
© 2008 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
