Changing mindsets to see the benefits of hosting students

In Northumberland we have 38 GP practices, and currently less than 10 of these regularly host student nurses. My practice – Netherfield House Surgery – is looking at new ways to host students and it seems to be working. We are a mid-sized GP practice with 7000 patients. Our latest student intake included two adult nursing and two children's nursing students. They were on placement for 97 hours per week in total. My nursing team equate to 80 hours per week. We are outnumbered by students, and it works incredibly well. In the last 3 years we have supported over 20 student nurses.

We work very closely with Northumbria University and Health Education England and their Effective Learning Environments Team to ensure that we can offer the maximum number of student placements. We put students at the centre of our nursing team and as such can host multiple students at the same time. I am incredibly passionate about making sure that students know primary care is an option for them when they qualify; we will only attract newly qualified nurses to general practice if they get the right experience as students.