Employment of the Australian graduate nursing workforce: A retrospective analysis

BackgroundThere have been predictions of a significant nursing workforce shortage in Australia and one strategy to address this has been an increase in supply of new graduates. Their rates and hours of work are largely unknown.AimTo explore trends in employment of newly graduate registered nurses in Australia between 2004 and 2019.MethodsA retrospective analysis of Australian university graduate survey data and governmental administrative data was undertaken.Findings and discussionResults show a 5.8% per annum increase in the number of nursing students graduating from Australian universities (2004-2018). There was a 26% reduction (2004–2019) in the number reporting employment in nursing at 6 months post-graduation. Of those who gained employment as nurses at 6 months, 91% were still employed at 36 months, suggesting that those employed as nurses on graduation will participate in the health care workforce for at least 3 years. Hours per week of employment increased at 36 months post-graduation (for the cohort graduating between 2008-2015), indicative of an increase in overtime hours and/or secondary employment. Fixed-term contracts up to 12 months’ duration increased by 8% (2004-2015) providing evidence that more nurses are being offered short-term contracts.ConclusionThe number of newly graduated registered nurses not employed in nursing may reflect an oversupply, use of a nursing degree to move to other postgraduate degrees, or a reluctance to move to where jobs are available. Strategies may be needed to improve the rate of employment of new graduates, specifically employment outside metropolitan areas.     

Hospital nursing: It's a battle!' A follow-up study of English graduate nurses

The purpose of this follow-up study, conducted 4 years after the initial study, was to elicit the recollections of English graduate nurses regarding their first year as qualified nurses in hospital nursing The method was qualitative, specifically a grounded theory approach was used The design was retrospective The initial study took place when informants were in their final year before graduation The follow-up study began after informants had been practising for between 3 and 4 years Data were collected through semi-structured, indepth, audio-taped interviews and were analysed through the constant comparative classification of patterns and themes Research questions were ‘what do graduates nurses recall about their first year of practice in hospital nursing?’ and ‘what do they perceive as the difficulties of maintaining their standards?’ Findings revealed the core variable as role stress The stressful experience of living up to their individual perceptions of the role of being a graduate nurse was related to the influence of educational socialization, self-expectations, and nursing management expectations     

Towards a Foucauldian reading of the Australian mental health nursing workforce

This article reflects on the findings of the recently published Scoping Study of the Australian Mental Health Nursing Workforce from the perspective of Foucault's work on 'governmentality'. First, the policy background to the scoping study is described. This is followed by a discussion of Foucauldian concepts and method that will be used to explore selected aspects of the scoping study. The related concepts of 'governmentality' and 'technologies of the self' are used to begin a theoretically grounded analysis of mental health nursing education and practice, with particular attention to discourses of 'change' and 'survival'. The examples chosen are used to support the argument that competing discourses order multiple 'readings' of Australian mental health nursing, including whether or not it is thriving or surviving. The article ends with comments on whether a Foucauldian analysis adds anything to what has been reported in the scoping study.     

Designing and delivering clinical risk management education for graduate nurses: an Australian study

In order to enhance their capabilities in clinical risk management (CRM) and to be integrated into safe and effective patient safety organisational processes and systems, neophyte graduate nurses need to be provided with pertinent information on CRM at the beginning of their employment. What and how such information should be given to new graduate nurses, however, remains open to question and curiously something that has not been the subject either of critique or systematic investigation in the nursing literature. This article reports the findings of the third and final cycle of a 12 month action research (AR) project that has sought to redress this oversight by developing, implementing and evaluating a CRM education program for neophyte graduate nurses. Conducted in the cultural context of regional Victoria, Australia, the design, implementation and evaluation of the package revealed that it was a useful resource, served the intended purpose of ensuring that neophyte graduate nurses were provided with pertinent information on CRM upon the commencement and during their graduate nurse year, and enabled graduate nurses to be facilitated to translate that information into their everyday practice.     

Factors affecting the integration of immigrant nurses into the nursing workforce: A double hermeneutic study

Background

Variations in nursing practice and communication difficulties pose a challenge for the successful integration into the workforce of immigrant nurses. Evidence for this is found in cultural clashes, interpersonal conflicts, communication problems, prejudiced attitudes and discrimination towards immigrant nurses. While the evidence shows that integrating immigrant nurses into the nursing workforce is shaped by factors that are socially constructed, studies that examine social structures affecting workforce integration are sparse.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to examine interplaying relationships between social structures and nurses’ actions that either enabled or inhibited workforce integration in hospital settings.

Design

Giddens’ Structuration Theory with double hermeneutic methodology was used to interpret 24 immigrant and 20 senior nurses’ perceptions of factors affecting workforce integration.

Results

Four themes were identified from the data. These were: (1) employer-sponsored visa as a constraint on adaptation, (2) two-way learning and adaptation in multicultural teams, (3) unacknowledged experiences and expertise as barriers to integration, and (4) unquestioned sub-group norms as barriers for group cohesion. The themes presented a critical perspective that unsuitable social structures (policies and resources) constrained nurses’ performance in workforce integration in the context of nurse immigration. The direction of structural changes needed to improve workforce integration is illustrated throughout the discussions of policies and resources required for workforce integration at national and organisational levels, conditions for positive group interactions and group cohesion in organisations.

Conclusion

Our study reveals inadequate rules and resources used to recruit, classify and utilise immigrant nurses at national and healthcare organisational levels can become structural constraints on their adaptation to professional nursing practice and integration into the workforce in a host country. Learning from each other in multicultural teams and positive intergroup interaction in promoting intercultural understanding are enablers contributing to immigrant nurses’ adaptation and workforce integration.     

Credentialling Australian critical care nurses: the pilot study.

In October 1998, the Australian College of Critical Care Nurses (ACCCN) launched a model to credential specialist level critical care nurses. This model was 'road tested' during a pilot study, when experienced critical care nurses were invited to apply to become the first Australian credentialled critical care nurses. The pilot study was designed to ensure all individuals taking part in the process were surveyed regarding adequacy of the credentialling package and the credentialling process. Applicants were required to provide evidence of practise at the specialist level, as described in the Competency Standards for Specialist Level Critical Care Nurses. Evidence was presented via curriculum vitae, professional journal and supported by three peer reviewers and two referees. Each application was sent to a three-person assessor panel, which assessed the evidence in the application against the Competency Standards for Specialist Level Critical Care Nurses. A total of six applications from five states and one territory were received by April 1999. Five of the applicants were assessed to have met the Competency Standards and were awarded the credential, Australia Credentialled Critical Care Nurse (ACCN), which they will hold for a period of 3 years. Feedback from assessors, applicants, peer reviewers and referees involved in the pilot study has resulted in the further refinement of the credentialling package and processes. Australian critical care nurses will now have the opportunity to seek to be credentialled four times per year.     

Scoping practice issues in the Australian mental health nursing workforce

This is the third of four articles on the scoping study of the Australian mental health nursing workforce conducted on behalf of the Australian and New Zealand College of Mental Health Nurses (ANZCMHN) for the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council (AHMAC) National Working Group on Mental Health (NWGMH). Its purpose is to focus on factors that significantly affect mental health nursing practice. The issues of advanced practice, regulation of nursing, accreditation, credentialling and demarcation with other disciplines are addressed.     

The Internet as a research site: establishment of a web-based longitudinal study of the nursing and midwifery workforce in three countries

Title.  The Internet as a research site: establishment of a web-based longitudinal study of the nursing and midwifery workforce in three countries.
Aim.  The aim of this paper is to describe the development of a web-based longitudinal research project, The Nurses and Midwives e-cohort Study.
Background.  The Internet has only recently been used for health research. However, web-based methodologies are increasingly discussed as significant and inevitable developments in research as Internet access and use rapidly increases worldwide.
Method.  In 2006, a longitudinal web-based study of nurses and midwives workforce participation patterns, health and wellbeing, and lifestyle choices was established. Participating countries are Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Data collection is handled through a dedicated website using a range of standardized tools combined into one comprehensive questionnaire. Internet-specific data collection and a range of recruitment and retention strategies have been developed for this study.
Discussion.  Internet-based technology can support the maintenance of cohorts across multiple countries and jurisdictions to explore factors influencing workforce participation. However, barriers to widespread adoption of web-based approaches include website development costs, the need for fast broadband connection for large data collection instruments, and varying degrees of Internet and computer literacy in the nursing and midwifery workforce.
Conclusion.  Many of the issues reported in this paper are transitional in nature at a time of rapid technological development. The development of on-line methods and tools is a major and exciting development in the world of research. Research via the world-wide web can support international collaborations across borders and cultures.