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)

LEWIS, Robin (2023). 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). BMC Primary Care, 24 (1): 216.

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Abstract

Background: There is a shortage of general practice nurses worldwide to deal with an ever-increasing workload, and the need to attract new staff into general practice nursing is therefore vital. As part of this, a one-year Vocational Training Scheme (VTS) for new to general practice nurses was developed in 2020 by the South Yorkshire Primary Care Workforce and Training Hub. Methods: The aim of the study was to examine the VTS trainees’ views on general practice nursing as a career. A pragmatic, convenience sample of trainees was recruited. Of the 21 trainees, 17 agreed to take part in the study. Data were collected from the trainees using a series of four regular, timed, online focus groups designed to follow the trainees’ trajectory on the programme over a 12-month period. The data were analysed using framework analysis. Results: The timed nature of the focus groups meant that the analysis of the data was linked to the trainees’ trajectory over the course of the year. Three themes were generated from the data: ‘pathways into general practice’; ‘learning to be a GPN’; and ‘the future GPN’. In theme one, the trainees talked of the difficulties in accessing general practice as a new graduate, specifically the need for prior experience and how to get it. In the second, the transition to being a general practice nurse was discussed, and the expectation of being able to ‘hit the ground running’ once in post. The new graduate participants were also concerned over the opportunities for clinical supervision and support in the role after the programme. Finally, the participant s expressed concern over future opportunities for professional development and the prospects for a long-term career in general practice. Conclusion: To address the worldwide workforce ‘crisis’ in general practice nursing, sustainable career pathways are needed to encourage new graduate nurses to consider working in general practice. Starting at university, changing the culture and providing the necessary infrastructure to support ongoing professional development in general practice nursing are key to its success.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	** From Springer Nature via Jisc Publications Router ** Licence for this article: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ** Acknowledgements: RL would like to acknowledge in particular the invaluable contributions of the trainees who so unselfishly gave their time to the study, and also the support of the South Yorkshire Primary Care Workforce and Training hub team, without whom the study would not have been possible. **Journal IDs: eissn 2731-4553 **Article IDs: publisher-id: s12875-023-02165-8; manuscript: 2165 **History: collection 12-2023; online 21-10-2023; published_online 21-10-2023; accepted 29-09-2023; registration 29-09-2023; submitted 15-11-2022
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Career pathways, Education and training, General practice nursing, General practice, Continuing professional development, Primary care workforce
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-023-02165-8
SWORD Depositor:	Colin Knott
Depositing User:	Colin Knott
Date Deposited:	24 Oct 2023 13:50
Last Modified:	24 Oct 2023 14:00
URI:	https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/32581

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