Factors that influence Australian early career nurse employment outcomes and settings: A prospective cohort study

To identify the factors influencing employment outcomes and settings for early career nurses.

A shortage of nurses attracted to work in out-of-hospital settings exists. Despite this, not all nursing graduates can secure work as a nurse. Information on the factors that impact wider graduate employment is available. However, a nursing perspective is missing, especially for hard to recruit to areas.

A prospective cohort study was conducted. Participants were 293 final-year undergraduate nursing students, recruited from two universities. Data were collected over 12 months, commencing November 2016.

English as a first language was the greatest predictor of employment for graduates. Previous health care experience and workplace preferences predicted employment in the out-of-hospital setting.

Misalignment between English language requirements and industry expectations about language may lead to bias in recruitment of graduate nurses with English as their second language. Recruitment to out-of-hospital settings may be promoted by having health care experience and targeting those with a preference.

Reviewing current employment policies to ensure they reflect the need for cultural diversity in the nursing workforce is critical. Additionally, research that aims to understand how preferences for out-of-hospital settings are developed will help target graduate employment strategies.