Teaching Baccalaureate Nursing Students to Practice in Primary Care Settings

The Affordable Care Act of 2010 emphasized the importance of primary care and preventative services as core components to promote the health of the U.S.

A unique program was created for baccalaureate nursing students to provide learning and practice experiences in primary practice sites that emphasized chronic disease prevention and management, including mental health and substance abuse services. Students were selected using a holistic approach.

Students were selected to participate in the project. A community leadership advisory board was created. Students were assigned to the Veteran Administration's primary care clinics for their clinical experiences.

This project is well-developed to increase the knowledge of present and future RNs, interprofessional providers and educators, researchers, and policy makers in community-oriented primary care. [J Nurs Educ. 2021;60(3):129-135.].