Health visitors have much to offer pre-registration child branch student nurses

The primary care workforce has recently become the focus of several reports, which highlight the preparation and upskilling of nurses for a move to acute care in the community and plans to widen the community and primary care workforce. This paper explores current health plans in relation to pre-registration nurse education and identifies the health visitor as having key qualities and skills to manage child branch student nurses' community placements. A health visitor's perspective reinforces the discussion and highlights how the current climate offers a valuable opportunity for health visitors to promote a positive learning environment. Numerous learning opportunities are identified in the community placement, which can serve to equip student nurses with key nursing and interprofessional skills, such as leadership, management, assessment, communication and negotiation. A student's perspective is offered to provide an example of how a positive experience in the community can enhance student learning. This discussion concludes that the health visitor can be a valuable mentor to offer pre-registration student nurses a supportive environment in which to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and encourage students to flourish as caring and compassionate nurses.