Students inspired to pursue primary care careers thanks to more placements

Student nurses are being inspired to consider a career in primary care as part of a new project happening in Swansea Bay.

The Swansea University nursing students can now complete a placement giving them experience of working within a GP practice.

The project has been made possible by Health Education and Improvement Wales, the health board’s Primary and Community Care Academy, Swansea University and practice education facilitators.

Pictured: Riverside Surgery advanced clinical practitioner and nurse manager, Nicola Wallis.

The Academy helps to develop the workforce within primary care, including GPs, pharmacists, optometrists, dentists, nurses, allied health professionals, and more.

Undergraduate nurse placements in GP practices have previously been limited.

The project aims to increase the number of placements available.

Riverside Surgery in Port Talbot hosted one of the first student nurses to complete a placement.

Nicola Wallis, advanced clinical practitioner and nurse manager at the surgery, said: “Primary care has been an area where student nurses may not have been aware of what goes on as it was never part of the student nurse programme.

“The students are allocated to practices for their placements by the university.

“We recently had a student in our practice, and it was wonderful.

“Taking the time to teach the students and show them what we do has been a big thing as we haven’t done it before, but it is great to pass on the skills to the next generation.

“I think providing this opportunity will help to give students a really good insight into what an amazing career you can have in primary care as a nurse in a GP practice.”

Rhian Jones, Primary and Community Care Academy manager, added: “Providing student nurses with first-hand experience in general practice is key to inspiring the next generation of the primary care workforce.

“This programme offers a valuable opportunity to experience and see the vital role that general practice nurses play in patient care.”

The placements run for six weeks, with students spending Monday to Friday at the practice.

Georgina Clee, practice nurse at Riverside Surgery, said: “Our student was in her first year at university and it was her very first placement, so initially we covered basic nursing skills.

“We showed her how undertake intramuscular and subcutaneous injections, blood pressure recordings and electrocardiograms, or ECGs.

“Then as the placement progressed we looked at ankle-brachial pressure index measurements, which checks for blocked or narrowed blood vessels, and talked her through how we do those and why we do them.

“We had some excellent feedback from her. We were all students once and I think it is really important we give back to the next generation.”

More students are due to complete the placements at Riverside Surgery, as well as other GP practices across Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.

It is hoped the programme could even be expanded so more advanced students could also benefit.

“We are hoping it will become a rolling programme and that we may even be able to have two at the same time,” Nicola added.

“We are also hoping to have some more advanced students too, maybe second or third-year students, where they could experience a bit more.

“I think it’s important to be a part of the programme because students will learn so much by experiencing it first-hand.”

Helen Beckett, senior lecturer in children’s nursing at Swansea University, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for our student nurses, where they will have the opportunity to experience primary care and work alongside the multidisciplinary team, supporting service users and their families in the community.

“This interprofessional collaborative approach enables students to develop a wide range of clinical skills and develop their knowledge around holistic, person-centred care.”

Clare James, Swansea Bay’s Deputy Head of Nursing for Primary Care, said: “General practice nurses hold a vast range of skills and expertise to support pre-registration nursing placements.

“They provide services to patients across their entire lifespan with a focus on health protection and health promotion.

“Raising the profile of primary care nursing as we continue to bring care closer to home and introducing new nurses into general practice is a very exciting time for us and we have welcomed this opportunity.”