Nurturing Tomorrow’s Community Nurses

In this blog, Queen’s Nurse Hayley Ingleson describes the Community Pathway offered to final year adult nursing students in Leeds.

The 3^rd year community pathway stands out as a transformative journey that is shaping the future of community nursing. The community pathway offers 20 adult nursing students from local universities the opportunity to immerse themselves across a broad range of community settings within Leeds for their final year of practice. The objective is to enable them to foster a deeper understanding of the patient journey across health and social care services, social determinants of health and cultural diversity of our communities here in Leeds.

Through hands on experience, the 20 adult nursing students on the community pathway have accessed clinical rotations across our neighbourhoods, hospices, nursing homes, specialist services, GP practices and private, independent, and voluntary services, exposing them to care outside hospital-based settings and deepening their understanding of the diverse needs and health inequalities faced by our communities.

Collaboration and Cultural Competence

A central feature of the community pathway is the concept of interdisciplinary working. Working across different services and alongside a range of healthcare professionals, the students have learnt to appreciate the collaborative way in which we work in Leeds to promote good health and well-being through a holistic approach to care. The students have recognised and valued the importance of addressing not only physical health needs but also considered psychosocial, emotional, economic, and environmental factors to improve health outcomes.

Another key element of the community pathway is cultural competence. The communities in Leeds are becoming increasingly diverse, therefore the students have navigated cultural nuances and communicated effectively with individuals from different backgrounds, cultures and ethnicities in a way that is meaningful for them, promoting person centred, personalised care. Through immersion in a wide range of community settings, the students have also learnt to respect and embrace cultural diversity, ensuring care is delivered with sensitivity and inclusivity.

The transformative impact of the community pathway extends beyond academia and clinical placements. By engaging directly with communities, the students have become agents of change, advocating for the health and well-being of underserved population groups through health education, home visits or outreach activities. Moreover, the community pathway emphasises the importance of early intervention and preventative health care. The students have thus been able to educate individuals and communities about health behaviours, lifestyle choices and illness/disease prevention strategies. By focusing on this as students, they have been equipped with the right skills and knowledge to contribute to the long-term wellness of population groups, rather than treating and illness/disease after it has occurred.

Reflection and Learning

On a professional level, the community pathway has evidentially nurtured growth and development of 20 student nurses. Through reflection and experiential learning, the students have demonstrated empathy, resilience, and a sense of purpose in their journey to becoming community nurses at the end of their programme. This holistic approach to student education has not only prepared the students for the clinical challenges ahead but has also equipped them with the skills, knowledge and a mindset needed to thrive in a fast-paced world of complex, ever changing community healthcare.

In conclusion, the community pathway has been a great success so far, with almost all 20 students going onto secure conditional offers of employment within either Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust or one of our partner organisations that feature as part of the pathway. This further underscores the pathway’s pivotal role in attracting and nurturing the community nursing talent of the future. They are equipped with a unique blend of clinical expertise, skills and knowledge to enable them to deliver compassionate and socially conscious healthcare of the future.

This project is currently being written up for publication. If you would like to know more about the model, learning gained and outcomes, please get in touch: hayley.ingleson@nhs.net .

Hayley Ingleson (RNC/ SCPHN-HV/ QN) is the Practice Learning Facilitator for Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust and General Practice and a Queen’s Nurse. Her role is to support the development of clinical placement opportunities across community settings and nurture the next generation of community nurses.