Communities of practice, a phenomenon to explain student development in community nursing

To explore practice teachers understanding of the process of professional education experienced by community nursing students.

This paper analyses the concepts of situated learning and communities of practice as an underpinning theoretical framework to understand the professional education of community nurses in practice settings. The paper also highlights the strengths and limitations of the community of practice theory as applied to professional education.

A qualitative grounded theory study was undertaken involving interviews with 30 community nurse practice teachers.

Emerging from the data were the central components of Lave and Wenger's theory of communities of practice. The practice teachers appeared to use these components including legitimate peripheral participation, sponsorship and journeying to good effect in facilitating the development of community nurse students. The paper extends Lave and Wenger's community of practice phenomenon and identifies how communities are (re)produced over time. The development of professional practitioners over a lengthy period of time within supportive communities of practice where one person with expertise in professional education sponsors the student and takes responsibility for their journey was perceived by practice teachers to be an important and appropriate approach. An approach that was found by practice teachers to transform the student's professional identity, enabling them to undertake a complex multifaceted role using a holistic, problem solving and participative style with clients and communities. It is also an approach that was hypothesised to allow the profession itself to (re)produce in a way that supports continuity but also promotes changes in practice.