Creating a Primary Care Track in Prelicensure Nursing Education

Abstract

Background: RNs practicing in primary care (PC) increase access to health care and contribute to better patient outcomes and cost savings, yet undergraduate nursing education traditionally focuses on disease-oriented care. This article describes a curricular track for infusing PC prelicensure programs. Method: PC content is threaded across four semesters with targeted assignments and clinical experiences. Providing clinical immersion experiences with practicing RNs as preceptors in community and PC settings is a key component of this initiative. Results: Student feedback has been favorable. Students stated they gained insight to the role of RNs in PC through class assignments and clinical rotations. Graduating seniors were offered employment in PC settings where they completed their practicum clinical rotations. Conclusion: The PC track contributes to building a nursing workforce to meet health care demands and promote health equity. Nurse educators interested in infusing PC content throughout the curriculum can adapt this model for all student populations. [ J Nurs Educ . 2023;62(3):171-174.]

Nursing Students’ Self-Efficacy and Performance in Self-Management Support for Patients in Rural Primary Care

“…Students in both the Hawkins study and this study reported positive feedback and increased insight into the role of RNs in primary care through class assignments and clinical rotations. In addition, both Hawkins et al (2022) and this study had a similar impact on employment outcomes of graduating nursing students; many were offered employment in primary care and/or medically underserved community settings where they completed their practicum clinical rotations.…”

“…An educational innovation project was conducted by Hawkins et al (2022) that used course evaluations to report student feedback after creating a primary care track in prelicensure nursing education. Students in both the Hawkins study and this study reported positive feedback and increased insight into the role of RNs in primary care through class assignments and clinical rotations.…”

Advancing health equity in prelicensure nursing curricula: Findings from a critical review

“…Ideally, we would also Study quality was appraised for each article (File S2). Most studies were rated as good quality, while one study was rated poor: a quality improvement/educational intervention study that did not present study aims or a research question and did not address alternative explanations of results or any unanticipated outcomes (Hawkins et al, 2022). Health equity content was categorized based on the CSDH framework categories (Solar & Irwin, 2010).…”

“…Wihlborg and Avery (2021) evaluated syllabi from 24 out of all 25 Swedish undergraduate nursing programs. The remaining studies (n = 7) evaluated the presence of health equity content using student and/or faculty surveys(Buchanan & O'Connor, 2020;Foronda et al, 2020;Roy et al, 2022;Saini et al, 2022), course evaluations(Hawkins et al, 2022), preceptor evaluations(Hawkins et al, 2022), and interviews(Brown et al, 2023;Ercan-Şahin & Aslan, 2020). four semesters of courses,Hawkins et al (2022) reported that students expressed positive feedback, thought content was current and relevant, found practicum experiences to be positive, applied SDOH knowledge in those experiences, and that preceptors expressed satisfaction with students.…”

“…The remaining studies (n = 7) evaluated the presence of health equity content using student and/or faculty surveys(Buchanan & O'Connor, 2020;Foronda et al, 2020;Roy et al, 2022;Saini et al, 2022), course evaluations(Hawkins et al, 2022), preceptor evaluations(Hawkins et al, 2022), and interviews(Brown et al, 2023;Ercan-Şahin & Aslan, 2020). four semesters of courses,Hawkins et al (2022) reported that students expressed positive feedback, thought content was current and relevant, found practicum experiences to be positive, applied SDOH knowledge in those experiences, and that preceptors expressed satisfaction with students. Similarly,Saini et al (2022) found that after increasing the depth and breadth of LGBTQI+ of societal focus, an outdated focus on what is considered "normal," that norm-critical perspectives were present in syllabi but not in course texts, and found no mention of gender or sexuality in required course syllabi; Araújo daSilva et al (2021) similarly reported no gender or sexuality content.…”