Developing a career pathway within community nursing

There has been much anxiety regarding the levels of competence and confidence of newly qualified nurses. This article will describe the developments within one primary care trust of newly qualified student nurses through to the development of a robust career pathway. Within this PCT previous recruitment into community nursing posts had been unpredictable and some newly qualified nurses had found the transition from pre-registration to qualified nurse within primary care very difficult, often choosing to pursue an alternative career pathway. This resulted in a high turn over of staff. It therefore became imperative that the organization reviewed not only its placement experience but ensured a robust comprehensive career pathway that supported and mapped out for nurses the clinical experience they could expect and support continuing professional development.