Decentralized nursing education in Northern Norway: towards a sustainable recruitment and retention model in rural Arctic healthcare services

Abstract

IntroductionDecentralized nursing education (DNE) was established at Tromsø University College in 1990 and has since become a part of the bachelor programme in nursing at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. The objective of the study was to investigate whether and to what degree the first DNE programme established in Norway has contributed to recruitment and retention of registered nurses (RNs) in rural healthcare services.MethodsThe quantitative survey took place in 2012. A questionnaire was distributed to 315 former students who had graduated from the DNE programme from 1994 to 2011.ResultsThe primary finding of this study is that the DNE successfully recruits students from rural areas of Northern Norway. Nearly, 87.5% have their first employment in community healthcare services. They continued to work in the rural areas and 85% still worked as nurses in 2012. The DNE programme has been successful regarding recruitment and retention of RNs to community healthcare services. Fifty-six percent have attended a variety of postgraduate programmes.ConclusionThe DNE programme demonstrates itself as a successful study model regarding recruitment and retention of RNs to rural and remote areas.

Under the Same Sky: Connecting Students and Cultures through Circumpolar Nursing Education

“…Nursing students from rural areas are generally more mature students with family commitments and work obligations [ 8 ]. Therefore, they have less opportunity to engage in student exchange programs due to the cost of travel; the distances also make travel time-consuming.…”

“…One of the major challenges is that students must often travel far away from their family and communities to receive their nursing education, which not only impacts recruitment, but also retention [ 2 ]. Countries such as Norway have been successful in the recruitment and retention of rural nurses by implementing a decentralized nursing education program [ 8 ]. Similar successes have been achieved in Canada with a distributed model entitled ‘Learn Where You Live’ [ 6 ], based at the University of Saskatchewan (USask).…”

Legeutdanning i og for distriktene

“…Mitt helhetsinntrykk basert på skriftlige og muntlige tilbakemeldinger fra laerere og studenter er at praksisundervisningen stadig holder god kvalitet. Vedvarende og hovedsakelig gode erfaringer med desentraliserte undervisningsmoduler gjelder ikke bare leger, men også andre helseprofesjonsutdanninger (Jensen, 2008;Nordbye & Skaalvik, 2013). En formålstjen-lig videreutvikling kan vaere felles utplassering av ulike profesjonsutdanninger samtidig i samme kommune.…”

Decentralized nursing education in Northern Norway: a basis for continuing education to meet competence needs in rural Arctic healthcare services

“…Further, statistical projections estimate that a shortage of 25,200 nurses will occur in Norway by 2035; thus, recruitment and retention of nurses remains a priority ( 7 ). While education, recruitment and retention of health professionals in general and nurses in particular are common concerns in rural settings internationally ( 8 ), to address this problem, a decentralized nursing education (DNE) has been implemented in northern Norway since 1990 ( 9 ). The DNE has been organized as a part-time, 4-year study in rural off-campus locations in order to offer a bachelor degree in nursing to candidates with responsibilities and obligations in their rural home communities.…”

“…Medical and surgical placements were conducted in an urban university hospital. This study model was initiated as a cooperation between the rural municipalities and the university, and has provided a stable nursing workforce for the rural health services in northern Norway ( 9 ).…”