Community nursing as a future career choice: exploring nursing students’ perceptions

Background With healthcare shifting towards care delivered in the community, it is important to understand what might make nursing students want to work in community nursing. Aim To explore third-year undergraduate adult nursing students’ perceptions of community nursing as a future career choice. Method A qualitative exploratory approach was adopted. A total of 64 students responded to an online survey featuring a mix of open and closed questions. Data were analysed thematically. Findings ‘Community’ was the chosen first career destination of 11 (17%) respondents, but 48 (75%) said they had considered community nursing as a future career; of 27 respondents who had undertaken community placements, 26 had considered community nursing as a future career; 35 (70%) of 50 respondents considered taking on a community nursing role within three years of registration. Respondents generally demonstrated a good understanding of what community nurses do, but only half had gained this knowledge through community placements. Conclusion Whether or not respondents had undertaken community placements strongly influenced their interest in community nursing as a career destination. Misconceptions about community nursing, notably that it requires prior hospital experience, were not supported by the findings.