FAQ

  • What is the study about?

    The Graduate e-cohort study is a collaborative undertaking between universities in Australia, Canada and New Zealand to investigate factors affecting the recruitment and retention of the graduate nurse and midwife workforces in each country over a five year period. We are interested in learning about the choices graduate nurses and midwives make in relation to the locations in which they work, the hours they work, the specialties they are attracted to and their on-going education needs. We are also interested in learning why some nurses and midwives choose to leave the profession permanently or temporarily. Data are collected by an electronic survey that is posted on the study website annually for five years. Each time a new survey is posted, participants will be notified by email. The results from these surveys will then be analysed and used to help governments, universities and health care authorities to develop and plan effective strategies to attract and retain graduate nurses and midwives within the healthcare workforces of Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

  • Who is eligible to join?

    Nursing and midwifery graduates of Auckland University of Technology, Massey University, University of Auckland, Université de Montréal and the University of Queensland are eligible to participate in the Graduate e-cohort study. If you are a nursing or midwifery graduate from one of these universities, please let your former classmates know about the Graduate e-cohort Study as we would love them to participate too. Unfortunately we are unable to invite participation from nursing and midwifery graduates from other universities.

  • I’m very busy... I'm not sure I have the time to do the survey.

    We understand that with work, family commitments and just life in general that you are probably very busy. Therefore, the survey has been designed to be completed in between 10 to 15 minutes. Subsequent annual surveys will be of the same length. And, if you get called away while completing the survey, you can always come back and complete it later.

  • Can I contact someone about the study?

    You certainly can. Depending on the nature of your question and the university you graduated from, you can contact one of following people. We will endeavour to get back to you within two working days.

    Australia Canada New Zealand
    • The study in general, contact Stephen Neville at S.J. Neville@massey. ac.nz or
    • The ethics of the study, contact:
      • At Auckland University of Technology: Charles Grinter at charles.grinter@aut.ac.nz or 09 921 9999 extension 8860 quoting Ethics Application Number 08/254: The Graduate e-cohort study.
      • At Massey University: Prof John O'Neill at humanethicsoutha@massey.ac.nz quoting Application 08/51.
      • At The University of Auckland: The Chair, The University of Auckland Human Participants Ethics Committee on 09 373-7599 extn 83711 quoting Reference Number 2008/440..

  • Where will the findings of the study be published?

    Publications generated from the study will be submitted for consideration to a number of scientific journals. When an article is accepted for publication, we will notify participants by posting a link to the article on the ‘Publications’ page of the website.

  • Why did I get a birthday email?

    Sending a birthday email to you is just a small way for us to recognise your participation in our study on your special day. It also provides us with the opportunity to check that your email is still current. Each time we do an electronic mail-out a number of messages bounce back to us. Often, participants have moved or changed internet providers and forgotten to tell us. As you can imagine, in a research project such as this we need to maintain contact with our participants over a five year period so sending birthday emails is a good way of ensuring we are still in electronic contact with each other.

  • Why do you want my address and phone number if the study is electronic?

    Contact with our participants is predominantly via email. However, we request additional contact information – such as your residential address and phone number – from you in case we are unable to contact you via electronic means. The input from every single participant is vital to our study so if you change email providers or move and forget to tell us, we are able to contact you and ensure you are still part of the study.

  • I’m moving soon and don’t know my new contact details. Can I still participate?

    You certainly can. Some participants elect to give us a ‘secondary contact’. A secondary contact is usually a family member such as your mother or father who is happy to receive and pass on mail/information from us until you get settled. This person also provides us with another point of contact should we lose touch with you. Remember that even though you might currently be in transit, as long as you have a current email address, you can still participate.

  • What if I decide I no longer want to be part of the study?

    You are free to withdraw from the study at any time without prejudice or penalty. Depending on the university you graduated from, please contact the appropriate person below and you will be removed from the study. You will receive an email confirming that you have been withdrawn from the Graduate e-cohort.

 

  • What if I decide to leave nursing or midwifery during the Graduate e-cohort study?

    Even if you decide to leave nursing – whether temporarily or permanently – we still value your input. This study focuses on the decisions nurses and midwives make after graduation and the decision to leave the nursing and midwifery workforce is still relevant to our research. Even if you leave or have left nursing or midwifery to pursue further studies, we still want to hear from you.