How to improve interest for undergraduate nursing students working in primary health care

Abstract

Aim: To explore the association between the implementation of a new model of supervision and the impact of undergraduate nursing students’ interest in working in primary health care. Background: There is a need for more nurses in primary health care. To influence undergraduate nursing students to work in primary health care after graduation, the experience of their clinical practice in primary health care must be rewarding. In this study, we have implemented an alternative model of supervision for undergraduate nursing students in clinical practice, called ‘strengthened supervision during clinical practice’. In this model, lectures from the university are responsible for giving support and tutoring the nurse supervisor in primary health care. Method: Undergraduate nursing students in Norway (69) participated in an implementation of a new model for supervision in clinical practice. Thirty-one completed a questionnaire consisting of 15 questions. The questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive analyses. Finding: Undergraduate nursing students positively evaluated interactions with their fellow undergraduate nursing students in the primary health care setting. The undergraduate nursing students reported the nurse supervisor as most important for their perception of the practice site, followed by the work environment and their peers. When asked where they planned to work after graduation, very few undergraduate nursing students selected primary health care. It seems like aspects of the new model, ‘strengthened supervision during clinical practice’ are successful, but further research must be undertaken to explore whether this new model continues to be successful.