References
Supporting the future community workforce: perceptions from undergraduate student nurses
Abstract
Student nurses must be included in workforce planning to support preventative and proactive care, and to replenish an ageing workforce in the community setting. To do this, student nurses must view community nursing as a desirable career pathway when they graduate as a newly qualified nurse. This study explored the perceptions of community nurses from the viewpoint of year 2 undergraduate student nurses (n=9) via a face-to-face focus group. The key themes identified were intimate relationships, cultures, perceptions, skills and learning. The study found that students felt part of the team in the community setting and that there was a willingness to support and teach student nurses during clinical placement, particularly in relation to clinical skills and proficiencies. Close working relationships between nursing students and qualified staff presented opportunities to discuss, reflect on and consolidate their knowledge and apply it to patient care.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) standards for pre-registration nursing programmes set out requirements that approved education institutions must follow in the UK (NMC, 2023). The standards include guidance regarding curriculum content and practice learning. Nursing programmes comprise 50% theoretical learning and 50% practical learning (NMC, 2023).
Students must undertake a minimum of 2300 practice learning hours in a variety of practice environments, including community settings (NMC, 2023). The NHS workforce plan sets out three priorities—train, retain and reform—to address workforce challenges (NHS England, 2023). This includes increasing the number of NHS staff working in the primary and community care settings to enable services to provide preventative and proactive care.
A fairer shift of finances from the acute setting to the community setting is needed to support this out-of-hospital provision (Darzi, 2024). Integrated care boards (ICBs) commission most adult community services (Charles and Wickens, 2024). Considering that community services have 200 000 patient contacts per day, which equates to 13% of the daily activity in the NHS, it is imperative that this service is properly funded (Charles and Wickens, 2024).
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