The lure of the bush: Do rural placements influence student nurses to seek employment in rural settings?

Abstract

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.