Supporting pre-registration nurses within health visiting and school nursing

During the Health Visitor Implementation Plan (DH, 2011), health visiting teams were flooded with high numbers of health visitor students and, as a result, pre-registration student nurse placements for both health visitor and school nurse placements were reduced or temporarily suspended until its conclusion in 2015. Since then, pre-registration placements within health visiting and school nursing have been reactivated, and pre-registration students are once again able to join the clinical learning environment of specialist community public health nursing (SCPHN). The reintroduction of student nurses to some clinical areas and first-time introduction in others has generated questions from health visitors and school nurses about pre-registration nurses and their learning needs. This article aims to answer some of the queries we have encountered about developing the quality of the practice learning environment, so that student nurses' development is supported in accordance with the NMC Standards for pre-registration nursing education (NMC, 2010). This article may provide the opportunity for professional development, reflection and learning that can contribute towards revalidation.