New national data shows seven out of every 10 student nurses who complete APNA’s Student Nurse Placement Program (SNPP) say they would consider a primary health care (PHC) career.

In addition, four out of every ten student nurses who completed the SNPP said the program was their first experience of primary health care nursing.

With an urgent need to manage increasing rates of chronic disease, an ageing population, and a predicted shortfall of nurses in coming years, Australia desperately needs more primary health care nurses.

Ken Griffin, APNA CEO, said in a statement that “great primary health care needs great primary health care nurses.”

“And that starts with giving nursing students a positive placement during their studies.”

“Australia is at risk of not having enough suitably trained PHC nurses to staff aged care homes, general practices, and other primary health care settings in coming years. We need a sustainable pipeline of qualified primary health care nurses now to meet the health care needs of the future.” 

“More nursing students must be given the chance to experience primary health care so that we can build a sustainable workforce.  Clinical placements provide an opportunity to enhance and shape a student’s attitudes and learning experiences.”

“Placements are critical to establishing a future workforce.  The Commonwealth Government needs to play its part by supporting a national nursing student placement scheme in primary health care.”  

Most nurses start their career in a hospital. Historically, it was difficult for universities and tertiary education providers to arrange placements for student nurses in primary health care.

However, the APNA Student Nurse Placement Program provides student nurses with a foot in the door to a career in vibrant primary health care settings such as general practice or community health.

The placements allow students to experience the role of a primary health care nurse with 1:1 supervision.

APNA’s SNPP is already allowing nursing students to play a vital role in primary health care settings while simultaneously accruing their essential clinical placement time under the supervision of experienced primary health care nurses. 

There are already 108 Victorian and 32 interstate organisations registered with APNA’s SNPP. The program is set to place more than 500 students in high quality placements with multiple primary health care providers this year alone.

The SNPP program includes clinics in Ballarat, Bairnsdale, Swan Hill, Portland, and Mildura, and facilitated student nurse placements in New South Wales, the ACT, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania.

Scaling up this program so that it can be coordinated nationally would provide a workforce pipeline of motivated and skilled nurses who could help alleviate the staffing crisis in aged care homes, general practice, and other primary health care settings across the country.