The experience and benefits of hosting student nurses in general practice.

We spoke with Sally Green, Nurse Practitioner and Team Leader at Market Rasen Surgery. Sally and her team have helped to provide several excellent student nurse placements and receive fantastic feedback from their students. Here she shares with us why they enjoy hosting student nurses and how placements benefit the students and the practice.

 

How many students have you hosted during your time at the practice?

I would say over 20

 

Do you enjoy working with students?

I love having students, they bring fresh ideas, question practice, and make practice nurses think about ​their own practice

 

Can you share any of the feedback that you have received from your students?

Lots of experience gained

Felt well supported

Highly enjoyable, informative and welcoming experience

Learning opportunities met 100000%

Sad to leave

Would love to work at this practice

 

Do you feel that hosting students has benefitted you, your patients and other members of the team?

It challenges the clinical team to think about their practice and recent guidance changes.

Patients are usually willing to help them learn, especially long-term dressing patients.

 

Would you recommend hosting students to other practices?

I think most practices should be able to host a student, even if it is only 1 or 2 a year, even if they are just elective student placements.

 

How do you feel that students benefit from having placements in general practice?

It gives the students an ​all-round holistic approach to nursing, giving them the opportunity to develop skills within a supportive environment.

 

Do you think that general practice is a good place for newly qualified nurses to start their career?

If it is the ​career they want then I do think it is a great learning area for a newly qualified.

 

Would you recommend a placement in general practice to student nurses?

Most definitely as we seem to be able to give them lots of experience that they do not seem to be able to gain in secondary care due to understaffing

I understand that your practice recruited a Practice Nurse who had previously been at the practice on placement and have had other students who have expressed a desire to come back to your practice if a vacancy arises. This is fantastic and a testament to the wonderful placements that you offer! Many thanks for the time you have taken in helping us to write this case study and we hope that you continue to enjoy hosting students in the months and years ahead.