Understanding nursing students' perceptions of the general practice environment and their priorities for employment settings

Abstract

Aim To explore final year nursing students' perceptions of the general practice environment and their priorities when choosing a workplace. Design Online survey, reported following the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) guidelines. Methods The validated Profession Scale from the Scale on Community Care Perceptions (SCOPE) tool was used to identify characteristics within the general practice environment and the importance of these in choosing a workplace. To explore the factor structure, exploratory factor analysis was undertaken which was used to revise the survey language and flow before widespread dissemination. Results Three hundred and fifty‐five responses were received. Factor analysis revealed three factors: Provision of care, Employment conditions and Nature of work. Respondents exposed to general practice in the Bachelor of Nursing program or who had a general practice clinical placement had significantly different perceptions across all factors. Although wages, advancement opportunities, work pressures and the physical nature of work were perceived as important in choosing a workplace, they were seen as only moderately present in general practice.

Perception of Male Nursing Students about Their Maternity Clinical Practice: A Cross-Sectional Survey from a Nursing College

“…The nursing curriculum aims to provide an integrated theory and clinical experience to the students without any discrimination, thus preparing them to become qualified nurses with adequate knowledge, skills and attitudes. In a study by Calma et al (2022), exposure to general practice in theoretical and clinical experience during a nursing training program changed the perceptions of participants across all factors and thus they could better appreciate the scope and complexity of their nursing role [16].…”

General practice nurse trainees’ perspectives on general practice nursing as a career choice: qualitative findings from a vocational training scheme in the United Kingdom (UK)

“…In recent years, there have been various attempts to address the GPN workforce crisis, however attracting nurses into primary care has always been a challenge. General practice has not been considered a suitable ‘first post’ destination for new graduate nurses [ 15 – 18 ]. It has been argued [ 15 ] that at least part of this antipathy has been caused by the continued focus upon secondary and acute care in the undergraduate (UG) nursing curriculum.…”

“…General practice has not been considered a suitable ‘first post’ destination for new graduate nurses [ 15 – 18 ]. It has been argued [ 15 ] that at least part of this antipathy has been caused by the continued focus upon secondary and acute care in the undergraduate (UG) nursing curriculum. The absence of much primary care content, together with a shortage of general practice placements for student nurses has meant that many student nurses still do not know what general practice nursing is, or what it has to offer [ 19 ].…”