Table 2.

Taxonomy of nurse retention interventions in rural and remote areas

Category of intervention	Effective interventions for nurse retention	Strength of evidence*
A. Education and continuous professional development interventions	-Recruitment from, and training in, rural areas	Moderate [26]#
	-Targeted admission of students from rural background	Moderate [28]#
	-Early and increased exposure to rural practice during undergraduate studies
	-Support for continuous professional development
B. Regulatory interventions	-Increased opportunities for recruitment to civil service	Low [25]#
	-Recognizing overseas qualifications
	-Producing different types of health workers
C. Financial incentives	-Direct and indirect financial incentives (direct payments, service-requiring scholarships, educational loans with service requirements, loan repayment programs)	Moderate [24]#
		Low [25]
D. Personal and professional support	-General improvement in rural infrastructure (housing, roads, phones, water supplies, radio communication, etc.)	Strong [25]
	-Supportive supervision (mentorship, preceptorship, clinical supervision)	Moderate [26]#
	-Measures to reduce health workers’ feeling of isolation (professional/specialist networks, telemedicine and telehealth)	Moderate [27]#

^*Strength of evidence based on review authors’ conclusions.

^#Indirect evidence: the original studies on which authors based their conclusions are not specific to nurse retention.