Quantitatively Applying a Person‐Centered Approach in Rural Health Workforce Research: An Exploratory Latent Class Analysis of Early Career Rural Nurses.

Aim: To explore the utility of a quantitative person‐centred approach to identify subgroups of commencing first‐year rural nurses and examine their work attitudes and intentions. Design: Exploratory cross‐sectional survey. Methods: A survey of commencing first‐year nurses was conducted in two Austra...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Journal of Advanced Nursing (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) Vol. 82; no. 1; pp. 428 - 440
Autores principales: Seaman, Claire Ellen, Green, Elyce, Barry, Rebecca, Skipworth, Annie
Formato: research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Jan2026
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=190409557&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 190409557
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        03092402
        LVDY
      jtl: Journal of Advanced Nursing (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
      issn: 03092402
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Jan2026
      vid: 82
      iid: 1
      pid: 52269
      pub: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
    artinfo:
      ui:
        190409557
        183624857
        190409557
        190409557
        10.1111/jan.16878
        190409557
      ppf: 428
      ppct: 12
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: Quantitatively Applying a Person‐Centered Approach in Rural Health Workforce Research: An Exploratory Latent Class Analysis of Early Career Rural Nurses.
      aug:
        au:
          Seaman, Claire Ellen
          Green, Elyce
          Barry, Rebecca
          Skipworth, Annie
        affil: Three Rivers Department of Rural Health, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga New South Wales,, Australia
      sug:
        subj:
          Rural Nurses Psychosocial Factors
          Rural Nursing Psychosocial Factors
          Patient Centered Care Evaluation
          Health Services Research
          Workforce Psychosocial Factors
          Nurse Attitudes Evaluation
          Human
          Male
          Female
          Adult
          Quantitative Studies
          Exploratory Research
          Structural Equation Modeling
          Cross Sectional Studies
          Job Satisfaction
          Survey Research
          Questionnaires
          Career Planning and Development
          Australia
          Professional Competence
          Interpersonal Relations
          Intention
          Health Care Delivery
          Nursing Theory
          Personnel Recruitment
          Personnel Retention
          Organizational Culture
          Organizational Policies
          Policy Making
          Rural Nurses Education
          Work Environment
          Family Relations
          Bivariate Statistics
          Conceptual Framework
          Psychological Theory
          Descriptive Statistics
          Data Analysis Software
          Funding Source
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Aim: To explore the utility of a quantitative person‐centred approach to identify subgroups of commencing first‐year rural nurses and examine their work attitudes and intentions. Design: Exploratory cross‐sectional survey. Methods: A survey of commencing first‐year nurses was conducted in two Australian rural health districts in 2019 and 2020, with a 91% response rate. A two‐step latent class analysis of 159 responses was undertaken with two indicators of perceived professional opportunity and three indicators of local connection and rural training. Three outcomes assessing work intention and attitudes were compared across subtypes. Results: Four subgroups ('classes') were identified. There were significant differences in the outcomes between the two classes interpreted as 'rural‐locals'. Rural‐locals with the highest perceptions of available professional opportunities had the most positive outcomes of all four classes. Of the two 'non‐local' classes, the class with high perceptions of professional opportunities was significantly happier than the rural‐local and non‐local classes with lower perceptions; however, class differences in future rural work intentions and attitudes were mixed. Conclusion: The research found subtypes of rural first‐year nurses which differed in terms of occupational happiness and future rural work attitudes. Early career nurses who were rural‐locals with highest perceptions of professional opportunities had the highest intention to remain working rurally. This exploratory research demonstrates the relevance of person‐centred and theory‐informed approaches to rural health workforce recruitment and retention strategies. Implications for the Profession: The findings show that 'rural background' or 'local' are useful but insufficient classifiers to distinguish among commencing rural nurse health workforce, given rural work attitudes and future work intentions. Further attention at organisational and policy levels should be given to rural professional development opportunities for early career nurses to support retention. Impact: This research has demonstrated how a quantitative person‐centred approach can illuminate heterogeneous subgroups within a rural health workforce to inform more targeted recruitment and retention strategies. Researchers should look to larger datasets and methodological resources from psychological theories of work to realise this potential for informing organisational and governmental policy approaches. Reporting Method: The authors have adhered to the EQUATOR STROBE statement guidelines for reporting observational (cross‐sectional) studies. Patient or Public Contribution: No patient or public contribution.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N