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Item Increasing Retention of Nursing Staff at Hospitals: Aspects of Management and Leadership(National Institute of Labour Studies, 2005) Naude, M; McCable, R"In a previous study by Naude and McCabe, the factors that motivate nurses to remain working in a specific hospital were explored and described. From that research it was evident that there are factors related to leadership, management and interpersonal issues that will motivate nurses to remain working at a hospital and therefore increase the nursing staff retention rate of the hospital. This article will focus on the factors that were among the top four mentioned in that study, these include friendly and supportive staff, supportive and effective management, job satisfaction, and staff development including opportunities for new challenges. The aim of this article is to discuss leadership and management strategies to support the four most mentioned factors that will motivate nurses to remain at a specific hospital and therefore increase the retention rate at that hospital."Item Nurses' Voices(National Institute of Labour Studies, 2005) Nowak, M; Bickley, M"In this paper we analyse aspects of the qualitative data from open-ended questions included in the RN Survey 2002. We discuss the changes wrought by New Public Management (NPM) in the Australian and WA health sectors. We argue that the requisites of NPM and managerialism are not necessarily consistent with the historical role of professionalism in the delivery of health care and of nursing as a health profession. In analysing the nurses’ qualitative responses, we use the framework from NPM and managerialism as a means to develop understanding of the issues and concerns expressed by nurses. The paper identifies three areas of dissonance: professional dissonance, career choice dissonance and ideological dissonance. It argues that, as a result, nurses emotionally and professionally resist what has been termed ‘the instrumental motivations of managerialism’."Item Nursing Careers: What Motivated Nurses to Choose their Profession?(National Institute of Labour Studies, 2005) McCabe, R; Nowak, M; Mullen, S"This paper considers self-reported reasons for choosing to be a nurse and intentions related to remaining in the profession. The data are drawn from a survey of Western Australian Registered Nurses which was part of a broader study of issues for recruitment and retention of nurses in the context of current labour market opportunities for women. The paper finds that what we have termed the ‘intrinsic attraction’ of nursing has been a key element in the decision to enter nursing for the bulk of nurses, while ‘employment security’ aspects of the job are also a focus. Interestingly, only a minority of nurses rated the ‘extrinsic rewards’ highly as a factor in decision making. The paper notes that there are some areas of significant difference in nursing career selection motivation between older and younger nurses, this finding does have policy implications for both health authorities and employers."Item Who’d be a Nurse? Some Evidence on Career Choice in Australia.(National Institute of Labour Studies, 2005) Dockery, Alfred Michael; Barns, Angela"In the context of on-going shortages of nurses this paper looks at factors shaping the decision to enter nursing as a career. Evidence from three different Australian sources is drawn upon: a national panel survey of young school leavers, a survey of first year university students in WA and in-depth interviews with 28 young women studying for their WA Tertiary Entrance Examinations. The results concur with previous studies that have found entrants to nursing courses to be of average-to-below academic ability and socio-economic status, to have an affinity for caring and to place greater relative emphasis on balancing family and work rather than on career success. Some new insights into the factors influencing the decision to become a nurse further highlight the importance of perceptions of gender roles in society and are consistent with psychological and feminist approaches to career choice."Item Registered Nurses: Who are They and What do They Want?(National Institute of Labour Studies, 2005) Preston, A"Using 1981 and 2001 Census data together with primary data from a 2002 survey of Registered Nurses (RNs) in Western Australia, this paper profiles the nurse workforce. Amongst other things the paper reports on a high level of pay dissatisfaction, particularly amongst younger nurses. Hours of work also emerge as an important issue, with many RNs employed on a part-time basis and many more indicating they would prefer to work fewer rather than more hours. The demands of work and family are shown as impacting on these preferences, with 30.6 per cent of RNs reporting difficulty in balancing these conflicting demands. In the absence of any renewal strategy, the average age of nurses continues to rise. This age structure will change as RNs retire, one-third of all RN respondents to the 2002 survey plan on leaving the profession before 2008. A sizeable proportion of those who plan to leave are in the 26-30 age groups. The paper should sound a number of alarm bells for those engaged in nurse workforce planning."Item Choosing to be a Nurse, Remaining a Nurse and Leaving Nursing in Western Australia: Nursing Workforce Issues in the Twenty-first Century(National Institute of Labour Studies, 2005) Nowakq, M"The paper provides an introduction to a set of papers reporting on a research program in Western Australia designed to address issues relating to the choice to train for and become a nurse and aspects of the nursing experience which influence the retention of nurses in the health workforce. The paper provides contextual information about the Australian and Western Australian nursing workforce at the time of the research and changes to nurse training and workplace structures and cultures over the preceding ten years. Details of the research program and research strategy are outlined and the data collection process is described in detail. The paper then provides a discussion of the five papers in this issue and some of the policy issues that they raise."