Factors associated with final year nursing students' desire to work in the primary health care setting: findings from a national cross-sectional survey

Background: Registered nurses are under-represented in the primary health care setting both internationally and in Australia, and this shortage is predicted to worsen. To address the increasingly complex healthcare needs of an ageing population, it is vital to develop and sustain a primary health care nursing workforce, yet attracting nurses is challenging. In Australia, registered nurses graduating from university typically commence their careers in hospital-based transition to professional practice programs. Similar programs in primary health care settings may be a valuable strategy for developing the primary health care nursing workforce, yet little is known about nursing students desire to work in this setting, factors that influence this, or their expectations of primary health care-focused transition to professional practice programs.

Objectives: This study sought to identify factors associated with final year nursing students' desire to work in primary health care setting including demographic factors, expectations of future employment conditions, and job content. It also explored expectations of graduate transition programs based in primary health care.

Design: A cross-sectional survey design comprising a quantitative online survey.

Setting: 14 Australian universities from all states/territories, both rural and urban.

Participants: 530 final-year nursing students.

Methods: Binary logistic regression identifying factors contributing to desire to work in primary health care.

Results: The desire of nursing students to work in primary health care is associated with older age, greater perceived value of employment conditions including flexibility, and less perceived importance of workplace support.

Conclusions: Collaborative efforts from primary health care nurses, health professionals, academics and policy makers are needed to attract new graduate nurses to primary health care.