24 ROUNDTABLE
GP placement, because on the ward, it’ s‘ student do this, student do that’. They don’ t know your name. They don’ t know who you are. They don’ t know what year you’ re in.
Payment is also massive. Student nurses are doing 40 hours a week for nothing. The new £ 5,000 bursary is not enough. I had pennies. I worked all of my annual leave. I worked weekends and any days in between so that would cover me when I went on placement. The second year I burnt out. Everyone burns out – it’ s horrible.
VA On placements, other nurses forget your name and they repeatedly say,‘ Oh, what’ s your name again?’ I would prefer that more than being called‘ the student’. In other words, they’ re making the effort to make you feel like a part of the team. That’ s what you’ re there for. Yes, you’ re supernumerary, but you’ re still a team member.
How have you found being a newly qualified nurse in general practice? CE I’ ve got a really supportive team. I think my problem is that I put too much pressure on myself and I start thinking,‘ Oh gosh, am I doing this right?’ But my team have been amazing. I’ ve got a mentor as well who meets with me every week to go over my experience and debrief on any problems I’ m having.
The Career Start Practice Nurse scheme I just started on has been running for 12 years – and I was the first newly qualified nurse they took on. Before me, the nurses on the scheme had been in acute care, or worked as district nurses for years. When you’ re newly qualified, you’ re excited, you love your job and no one has moulded you yet. Now they’ ve told me they want as many people as possible on the scheme to be newly qualified.
CC It’ s tough starting out, but I know I can go to any of the nurses for support. I was feeling a bit down recently. I was thinking it’ s really tough and feeling a bit anxious about whether I’ m doing things right. I went to one of the nurses and she said,‘ Claire, we all feel like that. I’ ve been here for so many years and I still ask the other nurses questions because I still don’ t know stuff. You’ re going to feel like that all the time. It’ s just a part of learning.’
How do we encourage more newly qualified nurses to go into general practice?
When you’ re newly qualified, you’ re excited, you love your job and no one has moulded you yet
Christy Egan
One of the reasons I went into practice nursing was the autonomy
Sarah O’ Donnell
Online
See further interviews with the student nurses at the roundtable on Nursing in Practice’ s Twitter page at bit. ly / 3b6cPS0.
SO One obstacle is that you’ ve got to find a GPN to take students on. GPs often still have it in their mind that a GPN is someone who has come out of a hospital, who is much older. They need to realise there’ s another way of doing this. We all know as well that a lot of GPNs are nearing retirement age and do two days a week. Newly qualified nurses often want full-time work, but only part-time posts are available.
I also think people don’ t understand that the GPN role is huge and variable. Everywhere across the country the role is different. But you can promote the diversity and size of the role through networks and connections, which is how you spread information, but also understanding that the mentors in practice have to be good mentors.
There’ s also the misunderstanding that nurses are still handmaidens to the GPs when we’ re not.
CE Universities don’ t talk about it enough, and there are not enough placements. Though every university does it differently, I don’ t think I had one lecturer with a GPN background, though you might get district nurses, and there were a couple of health visitors. And in the three years of my training, we had one presentation about general practice and did one week in a GP surgery. Five students got to do an additional two weeks in a GP surgery.
So when the GPN SNNs go to universities, the students are shocked. They don’ t realise you can go into general practice. And that’ s what’ s putting the barrier up – that they don’ t know. You can always tell when a GPN SNN ambassador has been into a university to talk to students, because we get people suddenly sending inspiring tweets.
CC I think that just sharing the message and dispelling myths, like we’ ve been trying to do, definitely works. You get such a great reaction when you promote general practice nursing at universities. Student nurses don’ t always realise how much GPNs do. Many of them think it’ s an easy job when in fact it isn’ t.
VA There are some student nursing programmes where you get a bit more say in the placement. If that were an option for me, I know where I’ d be going. I think that really helps.
* The Health Foundation found in 2019 that a quarter of student nurses dropped out before graduation.
CHARLES MILLIGAN nursinginpractice. com May / June 2020