Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Nursing Community Apgar Questionnaire In Rural Australia: An Evidence Based Approach To Recruiting And Retaining Nurses, Molly Prengaman, Daniel R. Terry, David Schmitz, Ed Baker

Nursing Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose: To date, the Nursing Community Apgar Questionnaire (NCAQ) has been effectivly utlized to quantify resources and capabilities of a rural Idaho communities to recruit and retain nurses. As such, the NCAQ was used in a rural Australian context to examine its efficacy as an evidence-based tool to better inform nursing recruitment and retention.

Sample: The sample included nursing administrators, senior nurses and other nurses from six health facilities who were familiar with the community and knowledgeable with health facility recruitment and retention history. Participants were registered nurses and/or directly involved in nursing recruitment.

Method: The 50 factor NCAQ was …

Recruitment And Retention Of Rural Nursing Students: A Retrospective Study, J. Bigbee, D. Mixon

Nursing Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduction: The shortage of registered nurses is an issue globally, but particularly in rural and remote areas. Previous research in medicine suggests that recruiting students from rural backgrounds is an effective strategy to enhance the supply of rural healthcare providers. This strategy has not been widely adopted or evaluated in nursing. The purpose of this study was to compare rural and urban nursing students in relation to application, admission, and retention/graduation trends at a metropolitan state university in the Pacific Northwest area of the USA.
Methods: A retrospective longitudinal descriptive design was used, analyzing existing data from 2005 to …

The Relationship Between Nurse To Population Ratio And Population Density: A Pilot Study In A Rural/Frontier State, Jeri L. Bigbee

Nursing Faculty Publications and Presentations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between nurse to population ratio and population density. A secondary analysis was conducted, correlating nurse to population data with county-based population density data. The sample consisted of all 17 counties in the state of Nevada (3 urban, 4 rural and 10 frontier). County nurse to population ratios ranged from 178 to 861 per 100,000 population and population density ranged from 0.3 to 173.9 people per square mile (mean of 39.3). Correlational analysis indicated a significant positive relationship between nurse to population ratio and population density (r = .65 (p <.005). Mean nurse to population ratios were found to be significantly different between frontier (356/100,000), rural (682/100,000), and urban (587/100,000) counties (F = 7.53, p =.006). Not surprisingly, the results indicated that the lowest nurse to population ratios occur in areas with the lowest population density. These findings provide rural and frontier nurses with support in advocating for aggressive strategies to address the nurse to population disparity affecting rural and frontier communities.