Final-year undergraduate nursing students' perceptions of general practice nursing: A qualitative study

Beyond the Bedside: Reflections on Nursing Through the Eyes of a Student

The changing landscape of nursing and increasing number of nurses leaving the profession calls for a reexamination of career pathways. Professional mentors and faculty play a pivotal role in advising nursing students and new nurses. By sharing lessons learned from an undergraduate nursing student after interviewing 21 nurses working in nontraditional roles, the article highlights the importance of embracing the diverse professional goals and strengths of each nurse as a retention strategy.

Primary care nursing competencies in Canadian undergraduate nursing programs: A national cross-sectional survey

AIM

To assess the extent to which Canadian undergraduate baccalaureate nursing programs have incorporated Canadian competencies for Registered Nurses in primary care into their curricula.

BACKGROUND

Canadian competencies for Registered Nurses in primary care have several benefits, including their ability to inform primary care education in undergraduate nursing programs and to assist in building a robust primary care nursing workforce.

DESIGN

We conducted a national cross-sectional survey of undergraduate baccalaureate nursing programs (n = 74).

METHODS

The survey was conducted between April-May 2022. We used a modified version of the "Community Health Nurses' Continuing Education Needs Questionnaire". Respondents indicated their level of agreement on a 6-point Likert scale with 47 statements about the integration of the competencies in their program (1 = strongly disagree; 6 = strongly agree).

RESULTS

The response rate was 51.4%. The overall mean across the six competency domains was 4.73 (SD 0.30). The mean scores of each domain ranged from 4.23 (SD 1.27) for Quality Assurance, Evaluation and Research to 5.17 (SD 0.95) for Communication.

CONCLUSIONS

There are gaps in how these competencies are included in undergraduate education programs and opportunities to strengthen education for this growing workforce in Canada.

Effect of the Management in Nursing course on students' time management and career planning attitudes: A single-group pre-test post-test study

AIM

This study aimed to determine the effect of the Management in Nursing course on the time management and career planning attitudes of nursing students.

BACKGROUND

University education is important for young people to develop their time management skills, plan their careers, and implement these plans.

DESIGN

This is a semi-experimental study used single-group pre-test post-test design.

METHODS

This study sample included 133 fourth-year nursing students who enrolled for the Management in Nursing course in the 2019-2020 academic year. Introductory Information Form, Career Futures Inventory (CFI), and Time Management Questionnaire (TMQ) were used for data collection.

RESULTS

A statistically significant difference was found between the pre- and post-test time planning and TMQ scores. Moreover, a significant difference was found between the pre- and post-test career adaptability, career optimism and CFI scores. No significant difference was found between the pre- and post-test scores for the TMQ's time attitudes and time wasters subdimensions; similarly, the CFI's perceived knowledge of the job market subdimension indicated no significant difference between the pre- and post-test scores.

CONCLUSIONS

The results of this study indicated that the Management in Nursing course improved the time management skills of fourth-year nursing students as well as increased adaptability and optimism in their career planning attitudes.

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

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.

New graduate employment in general practice: Perceptions of final-year nursing students

AIM/OBJECTIVE

This paper sought to investigate the perceptions of final-year nursing students regarding general practice nursing as a new graduate career path.

BACKGROUND

General practice nurses have become increasingly important in providing community-based care, in response to the growing burden of chronic conditions and the ageing population. To sustain this workforce, there is a need to optimise strategies to promote a consistent supply of new graduate nurses.

DESIGN

This qualitative descriptive study was undertaken within a sequential explanatory mixed methods project.

METHODS

Data were collected through semi-structured telephone interviews with sixteen final-year nursing students from five Australian universities. Interviews were analysed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Four main themes were identified, namely; a) general practice is not a priority career path, b) opportunities for skills development and consolidation, c) perceptions of employment conditions, and d) transition support is limited.

CONCLUSION

To meet current workforce needs in areas with increasing demand, nurse educators need to support undergraduate nursing students to explore a wide range of career pathways following graduation. Informed career choices and well-structured educational preparation during undergraduate education may be an effective strategy in building a sustainable future workforce in settings such as general practice.