An exploration of pre-registration student nurses’ preconceptions, attitudes and experience regarding clinical placement in primary health care

Pre-registration student’s nurses in Australia must complete a set number of clinical placement hours within the healthcare setting as part of their studies. Clinical placement should be reflective of the contemporary Australian healthcare setting, but historically has been acute care focused. An exploratory qualitative research approach was adopted to explore pre-registration student nurses attitudes, perceptions, and experiences towards primary health care. Semi structured interviews were conducted with pre-registration students nurses (n=8) across two degrees of study. Data was analysed thematically.