title: How to identify and recruit nurses to a survey 14 and 24 years after graduation in a context of scarce data: lessons learnt from the 2012 nurses at work pilot study on nurses' career paths.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Nursing workforce data are scarce in Switzerland, with no active national registry of nurses. The worldwide nursing shortage is also affecting Switzerland, so that evidence-based results of the nurses at work project on career paths and retention are needed as part of the health care system stewardship; nurses at work is a retrospective cohort study of nurses who graduated in Swiss nursing schools in the last 30 years. Results of the pilot study are presented here (process and feasibility). The objectives are (1) to determine the size and structure of the potential target population by approaching two test-cohorts of nursing graduates (1988 and 1998); (2) to test methods of identifying and reaching them 14 and 24 years after graduation; (3) to compute participation rates, and identify recruitment and participation biases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Graduates' names were retrieved from 26 Swiss nursing schools: 488 nurses from the 1988 cohort and 597 from 1998 were invited to complete a web-based questionnaire. Initial updated addresses (n = 278, seed sample) were found using the Swiss Nursing Association member file. In addition, a snowball method was applied for recruitment, where directly-contacted respondents provided additional names of graduate mates or sent them the invitation. The study was further advertized through the main employers, study partners, and a press release.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participation rate was 26.5% (n = 287), higher for the older cohort of 1988 (29.7%, n = 145) than for 1998 (15.6%, n = 93). Additional nurses (n = 363) not belonging to the test cohorts also answered. All schools were represented among respondents. Only 18 respondents (6%) worked outside nursing or not at all. Among respondents, 94% would 'probably' or 'maybe' agree to participate in the main study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The pilot study demonstrated that targeted nurses could be identified and approached. There is an overwhelming interest in the project from them and from policymakers. Recommendations to increase nurses' participation rate for nurses at work include: (1) to open nurses at work recruitment to all nurses in Switzerland, while recreating cohorts post-hoc for relevant analysis; (2) to define a comprehensive communication strategy with special attention to graduate nurses who are harder to reach.
authors.affiliation: Haute Ecole de Santé Genève, HES-SO, Avenue de Champel 47, 1206, Genève, Switzerland. veronique.addor@hesge.ch.
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Addor
authors.affiliation: Unit of Prevention Programmes' Evaluation, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP), Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. andre.jeannin@gmail.com.
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jeannin
authors.affiliation: Institut Universitaire de Formation et de Recherche en Soins, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. diane.morin.iufrs@chuv.ch.
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Morin
authors.affiliation: Haute Ecole de Santé Vaud (HESAV), HES-SO, Lausanne, Switzerland. lehmann.publichealth@bluewin.ch.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lehmann
authors.affiliation: Haute Ecole de Santé Genève, Avenue de Champel 47, 1206, Genève, Switzerland. floriane.roulet@bluewin.ch.
authors.forename: Floriane Roulet
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Jeanneret
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nursing Science, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. rene.schwendimann@unibas.ch.
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schwendimann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006280:Health Workforce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010560:Personnel Selection / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013557:Switzerland; D055815:Young Adult