Workplace locations of allied health and nursing graduates who undertook a placement in the Northern Territory of Australia from 2016 to 2019: An observational cohort study

Abstract

Objective:The aim of the study is to determine the current work locations of allied health professionals and nurses who undertook a student placement in the Northern Territory of Australia from 2016-2019. Design: An observational cohort study was conducted in October 2020, with students emailed a link to an on-line survey, plus two reminders. Setting: Primary health care in the Northern Territory of Australia.Participants: All allied health and nursing students who undertook a student learning placement in the Northern Territory from 2016-2019 (n = 1936). Main outcome measures: Practicing nurses and allied health professionals were asked about their work history and locations (coded using the Modified Monash Model of remoteness and population size). Results: The response rate was 14.2% (275/1936 students). Most respondents reported that their placement positively influenced them to consider working: in a rural or remote location (76%), in the Northern Territory (81%), and with marginalised or under-served populations (74%). Of the respondents, 224 had graduated and 203 were currently working in their health profession. A total of 31.4% of respondents reported that they had worked in a remote or rural location after graduation. Conclusions: The student placement had a positive effect on the likelihood of students working in a rural or remote location. A focus on recruiting students with a remote upbringing/background and offering longer placements would likely be successful in helping build the health professional workforce in remote locations.

Immersive Place-Based Attachments in Rural Australia: An Overview of an Allied Health Program and Its Outcomes

“…The more noticeable shift in intention observed for metropolitan background students may be promising for rural 'conversion'; however, the longer-term benefits of this need to be examined. Outcomes of other UDRH programs have found short-term placements to have a positive influence on graduates' consideration of rural practice [20,22]; however, these have been reported as a percentage of graduates influenced more positively [22] or change in intention related to placement satisfaction [18]. Our current findings highlight the value of rural immersion placements/attachments on changing attitudes towards rural practice intention, particularly for those of metropolitan background and those on short to medium placements.…”

“…In the current analysis, rural return was 40.3% at 1 year, 39.6% at 3 years and 36.5% at 5 years, when using comparable ASGS-RA classifications. These rates of rural return (RA 2-5) are greater than those reported by other UDRH programs at 1 year (25%; RA 2-5) [22] or similar when using MM classification to match placement rurality (31.4%; MM 4-7) [20].…”

“…This effect was found to be further increased when combined with rural origin and longer duration of rural immersion [10]. In UDRH programs for allied health and nursing, the literature shows similar outcomes [17][18][19][20][21]. However, the literature exploring allied health workforce outcomes is less developed and largely focused on shortterm placements (typically 2-12 weeks) [18][19][20].…”

“…In UDRH programs for allied health and nursing, the literature shows similar outcomes [17][18][19][20][21]. However, the literature exploring allied health workforce outcomes is less developed and largely focused on shortterm placements (typically 2-12 weeks) [18][19][20]. Furthermore, the large diversity of allied health professions and the combining of data with nursing outcomes [19,20,22] makes it difficult to provide this evidence conclusively.…”

Co‐creation of a student‐implemented allied health service in a First Nations remote community of East Arnhem Land, Australia

“…Student‐implemented AH services, whereby AH students on clinical placement take primary responsibility for delivery of services, 17 have been previously developed to help address service inequity in regional, 18 rural 19 and remote communities 1 . These services have connected the future health workforce to the people of the region, providing opportunities for learning about region‐specific health complexities 20 . Such services have increased the likelihood that students will return to work in a rural or remote setting once they graduate 21,22 .…”