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Rural areas are experiencing shortages in nurses therefore attrition is a significant factor in planning to meet students' needs. The way forward is for universities to react to the changes in the student cohorts and respond appropriately. A review of the literature identifies that student cohorts are becoming more diverse and universities need to tailor learning resources to deal with diversity and learning needs. The factors identified impact on course development and delivery of the content to students. Increasing emphasis is being placed on student satisfaction and retention with a recognised need to increase focus on the students' perspective of services required and to foster a feeling of welcoming and 'fitting in' to the university community. Participants, methods and resultsUniversity student cohorts are changing from the 'traditional' student cohort. 1 This is never more evident than at a rural campus where the student nursing cohort encompasses first generation students and mature aged women from rural and remote backgrounds. The diversity of students results in a wide range of abilities and attributes. 2 This causes a problem in that within student groups there are differing levels of 'preparedness'. These learners are identified as typically the first of their family to go to university, often a relatively low socioeconomic status, from farming families and mature aged women who maintain multiple roles comprising family responsibilities, work and student role. 3,4 Smaller and newer regional campuses have a greater number of 'at risk' learners and 'second chance learners where the first chance was hardly a chance at all'. 5 Whatever the challenges, there are students in these rural regional centres who want to learn and succeed. The learning experience may be very different to their metropolitan counterparts because of class sizes, life experiences and the diversity of the cohort. 6 On the positive side for the smaller and newer campuses, is the occurrence of smaller class sizes as being a factor in overcoming problems of these cohorts. Staff often have a high level of enthusiasm and greater degree of empathy for the student role and their problems. It has been observed that students on the smaller and newer campuses often perform comparatively better than their counterparts on the main campuses and that non-metropolitan campuses offer a supportive community in which the student can undergo personal development. 5 There is evidence that students who attend rural campuses and/or have clinical placements in rural settings are likely to accept registered nurse positions in these areas. 7 Higher education institutions often have a 'sink or swim' attitude. 8 This is evidenced in the mindset that students who are not successful or have difficulties in their academic achievements are not intellectually able or are not 'prepared' for university. This then can impact on attrition and retention rates. There is a need for a student to adapt quickly to a new environment. Universities need to know their cohorts...

The aim of this project was to identify if there is a link between what nursing students learn in simulated clinical laboratory sessions and what they experience during their clinical placements. Clinical laboratories are commonly used to assist students to develop clinical nursing skills through simulation of clinical experiences. Issue: Little research has been conducted into the effectiveness of clinical laboratory sessions for nursing students and whether these sessions play a role in linking theory to practice. The intent is to determine if the clinical laboratory sessions assisted students to integrate theory and practice in the rural nursing setting. Method:The participants were a cohort of first year undergraduate Bachelor of Nursing students at a rural campus of an Australian regional inland university during a first year clinical placement in small rural hospitals. The mixed methods utilised included a questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews undertaken with nine first year nursing students. Questions asked related to the students' perceptions of what they were taught in the clinical laboratory sessions and what they experienced during clinical placements. Results:The results reinforced the need to utilise a combination of lecture and clinical laboratory sessions while highlighting the necessity for clinical placement and 'hands on' experience. Discrepancies and differences were recognised in the area of documentation and in the practice of some skills. Conclusion:Parity between what is taught and what is experienced is imperative to ensure safe practice in nursing students.