The untapped potential of the student nurse.

With all the demands on the time of community nurses, being allocated a student can often be perceived as a mandate that does not bring any immediate benefit to the supervisor, assessor and wider team. The supervision of students in the community requires one-to-one observation, which can limit the nurse’s feeling of personal autonomy. Students also require documentation to be completed to evidence learning and consideration of their individual learning needs, all of which take time. Although this role is a requirement of registered nurses, it is rarely given any protected time due to workload pressures.