The Lure of the Bush: Are graduate nurses attracted to rural practice?

Since the late 1980s, there has been a growing body of knowledge in Australia that recognises rural nursing as a separate and unique identity from remote and metropolitan-based nursing. Whilst much has been written about remote area nursing in Australia, very little empirical literature exists regarding the recruitment and retention issues facing rural health care facilities and even less is known about the retention and recruitment of new graduate nurses into rural practice. This is significant to the rural workforce because without current data regarding recruitment and retention issues and effective strategies to recruit new graduate nurses into rural settings, problems concerning the adequacy of the rural workforce will remain unsolved.This paper will report on research conducted in 2005 designed to enhance understanding of rural nursing recruitment issues and effective recruitment strategies at the undergraduate nursing level. The study utilised a convenience sample of final year Bachelor of Nursing students at a regional university, and consisted of three stages of data collection. Stages One and Two employed a pre-post test survey design, while Stage Three consisted of individual qualitative interviews with a sample of students during a rural clinical placement. The findings indicate that complex and interrelated factors influence new graduates' decisions to seek employment in rural healthcare facilities. These findings will be of interest to nurse academics concerned with ensuring that nursing curricula relate to rural nursing practice in Australia. The findings will also assist industry partners in identifying and evaluating effective recruitment strategies in rural practice settings.