Communities, Employers Must Work to Retain Rural Nurses, says Collaborative Study with U of S

Posted February 25, 2005


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Friday, February 25, 2005 2005-02-14-NU

Communities, Employers Must Work to Retain Rural Nurses, says Collaborative
Study with U of S

A new nation-wide study shows the number of nurses in rural and remote
Canada dropped by four per cent from 1994 to 2002, a trend expected to
continue as one in five rural nurses plan to retire by 2007.

U of S nursing professor Norma Stewart, a lead investigator in the study,
says employers and communities must do more to retain rural nurses.

"These nurses have a lot of autonomy, they're attached to their communities,
and they have high job satisfaction," she says. "Nevertheless, many nurses
in remote areas are intending to leave."

The Nature of Nursing Practice in Rural and Remote Canada is a three-year,
$600,000 comprehensive study led by faculty at the University of Northern
British Columbia.

Researchers conducted a first-ever survey of nearly 4,000 rural nurses,
conducted detailed interviews with 152 rural nurses, reviewed more than 200
documents that relate to rural nursing practice, and analyzed the national
database of registered nurses. Saskatchewan nurses had the highest response
rate in the country at more than 80 per cent.

Martha MacLeod, UNBC professor of nursing and principal investigator for the
nation-wide project, says this is the first comprehensive look at the
nursing experience in rural and remote Canada.

"We wanted to get a comprehensive view of what rural nursing is really like.
This has never been done in Canada before," she says. "We found rural nurses
have greater responsibility and generally fewer technical and human
resources to support them. The details of our study have implications for
health policy, rural nurse education, and for community efforts to recruit
and retain nurses."

For example, respondents reported that while they enjoyed the challenge of
providing advanced care, they were frustrated by the inability to get the
education to maintain and upgrade their skills. Also, many reported being on
call incessantly, leaving little down time for family or to get involved
with the community.

"These are issues that communities and employers can address," Stewart says.
"There are a lot of pluses in rural practice. What we must do is recognize
the drawbacks and make adjustments to increase the likelihood that nurses
will stay."

Stewart says that while U of S nursing graduates have little trouble finding
work, more must be done to retain them, particularly for provinces such as
Saskatchewan that must compete with higher-wage jurisdictions such as
British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario. Casual positions rather than
full-time are still common, and living environment remains crucial.

"Retention is more of an issue than recruitment," she says. "We have to look
at the experience in the community as well as the workplace. Dissatisfaction
with the community will make them leave, as well as remoteness."

The research project was led by MacLeod, Judith Kulig of the University of
Lethbridge, Stewart, and geography professor Roger Pitblado of Laurentian
University's Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research. Faculty
colleagues, researchers and advisors from all parts of Canada participated.

Primary funding for the research came from the Canadian Health Services
Research Foundation, but other funding came from every province and
territory.

Note to editors: More information on the study is available at
http://ruralnursing.unbc.ca. A full listing of funding agencies that
contributed to this research project is available at
http://www.usask.ca/research/whatsnew.shtml.

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For more information, contact:

Norma Stewart
College of Nursing
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-6254
norma.stewart@usask.ca

NOTE: On February 25, Professor Stewart will be at the University of
Northern British Columbia in Prince George.
Call toll-free: 1-866-960-6409
E-mail: rrn@unbc.ca

Michael Robin
Research Communications
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-2427
michael.robin@usask.ca
www.usask.ca/research