The relationship of rural clinical rotations to where registered nurses practice

An objective of exposing health profession students to rural clinical experiences was to overcome problems of geographic maldistribution of health personnel. Nevertheless, little can be said about the impact of rural training rotations on the supply of health personnel in rural areas or on students' decisions about where to practice. To assess the relationship between rural clinical rotations and practice locales, surveys were administered to all applicants taking registered nurse exams in Arizona in July 1990, February 1991, and July 1991. The students most likely to be working in rural locations were rural high school graduates with rural clinical experience during nursing school. Students who were urban high school graduates with rural clinical experience were only slightly less likely to locate in rural areas. Rural and urban high school graduates with no rural clinical experience were far less likely to choose rural practice. Rural rotations were associated with rural job selection only if students attended rural educational programs.