Table 1.

Profile of the reviews considered in this overview

Title	Authors	Year of publication	Country	Number of included studies	Type of professionals	Study variables	PRISMA score
Financial incentives for return of service in underserved areas: a systematic review	Bärnighausen and Bloom [24]	2009	USA	43	Nurses and physicians	Financial incentives	22/27
Systematic review of effective retention incentives for health workers in rural and remote areas: towards evidence-based policy	Buykx et al. [25]	2010	Australia	14	Nurses and physicians	Retention strategies (financial incentives, loan repayment)	19/27
Mentoring, clinical supervision and preceptoring: clarifying the conceptual definitions for Australian rural nurses: a review of the literature	Mills et al. [26]	2005	Australia	Not specified	Nurses	Supportive relationships in nursing: mentoring, clinical supervision and preceptoring	17/27
Supporting health professionals through information and communication technologies: a systematic review of the effects of information and communication technologies on recruitment and retention	Gagnon et al. [27]	2011	Canada	13	Nurses and other care providers	ICTs support	21/27
Rural health career pathways: research themes in recruitment and retention	Fisher and Fraser [28]	2010	Australia	Not specified	Nurses and other providers	Stages of rural career pathways	17/27

ICTs information and communication technologies, PRISMA Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses.