Aim:The aim of this study was to examine the perspectives of experienced Australian remote area nurses about remote nursing staff retention strategies.Background: There is low retention of remote area nurses in remote Australia.Retention of remote area nurses can be improved by a supportive environment including good management, professional development and supervision.Method: This is a qualitative study using in-depth interviews with seven registered nurses with a minimum of 3 years remote area nursing experience. Participants were interviewed by phone, with the interviews audio-recorded then transcribed and analysed thematically.Results: Participants had on average 12 years of experience as a remote area nurse.They valued teamwork, effective and flexible management practices and the ability to maintain their own cultural and social connectedness. A flexible service model with regular short breaks, filled by returning agency nurses to enable continuity of care and cultural connections, was seen as a viable approach. Conclusion:Flexible management practices that encourage short breaks for remote area nurses may increase retention. This would need to occur within a supportive management framework.Implications for Nursing Management: Management strategies that reduce isolation from personal and social networks can increase the retention of skilled remote area nurses.management, remote area nurses, remote health, retention, workforce 1 | BACKGROUND | Remote health practice and RANsThe term 'remote health' is often combined with the term 'rural health', but remote health has distinct characteristics (Ahuja et al., 2020). Compared with rural health, remote health refers to settings with greater distances and geographical isolation, less access to health care, less availability of services, and smaller and more mobile populations with a higher percentage of Indigenous residents. Also, remote health services use different models of health care delivery, with health professionals generally being employed by state, territory health services or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Organisations, rather than the small hospitals with local GPs practices in rural areas. In a remote health context, the social dimensions are also different with less power and