Respondents & Demographics

Seven hundred and thirty five responses were received, however, 98 responses were excluded as they either had more than 50% missing data or the respondents did not meet the inclusion criteria (i.e. were not PHC nurses). Therefore, 637 responses were included in the analysis. While it is not possible to calculate a response rate as the number of nurses working in PHC in Australia is unknown, this represents one of the largest published surveys of Australian PHC nursing (Australian Medicare Local Alliance, 2012, Halcomb et al. , 2018, Halcomb et al. , 2008).
Most respondents (n=555; 87.1%) were Registered Nurses and female (n=613; 96.2%). The average age of respondents was 47.6 years (SD=11.0)(Table 1). Over half of respondents (n=338; 53.1%) had worked as a nurse for over 21 years, with respondents working a mean of 10.7 years in PHC nursing. Forty four percent (n=282) were employed part-time. Respondents were employed across Australia, with the majority from New South Wales (n=233; 36.6%) and Queensland (n=145; 22.8%). Three hundred and fifty one respondents (55.1%) worked in general practice, with 106 (16.6%) respondents employed as community nurses and a further 180 (28.3%) employed in other PHC settings, including schools, universities and Aboriginal Medical Services. Respondents employed in general practice were significantly younger, with less years of nursing experience and less experience in PHC compared to those employed in other PHC settings (p=0.000).
Table 1. Respondent Demographics