Choosing to be a Nurse, Remaining a Nurse and Leaving Nursing in Western Australia: Nursing Workforce Issues in the Twenty-first Century

Abstract

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.