Characteristics of nursing and allied health student placements in the Northern Territory over time (2017-2019) and placement satisfaction

Objective Assess nursing and allied health student satisfaction with their remote Northern Territory integrated learning placement and consideration of future rural/remote work Describe the characteristics of these students Examine changes in student characteristics over time. Design A cross-sectional survey of students and a review of student placement data. Setting Northern Territory, Australia. Participants Former students having a work integrated learning placement of more than 1 week in the Northern Territory from 2017 to 2019. Main outcome measure(s) Agreement with the statements 'This placement has encouraged me to consider living and working in a rural or remote location after I graduate' and 'Overall, I was satisfied with my placement.' The administrative record review examined student numbers, and placement length over time. Results A total of 341 students responded to the online survey. Overall satisfaction with the placement was very high (93%), and 84% agreed/strongly agreed that the placement had encouraged them to consider working in a rural or remote setting. High-quality clinical supervision and educational resources were associated with overall placement satisfaction. Overall placement satisfaction, prior interest in working remotely and satisfaction with educational resources were associated with consideration of working remotely. The number of students having a placement increased by 29% in 2017 to 2019. The number of placement weeks also increased (35%). Conclusions The number/placement time of nursing and allied health students has increased in the NT. Satisfaction with remote integrated learning placements is on the important pathway to growing a local health professional workforce in remote and rural settings.

Automated summary

This study assessed nursing and allied health student satisfaction with remote Northern Territory integrated learning placements and their considerations of future rural/remote work. High-quality clinical supervision and educational resources were associated with overall student satisfaction. The number of students having placements and the length of placements increased from 2017 to 2019.