The journey to becoming a newly qualified nurse in general practice

Every practice nurse has a different journey into general practice. For any student nurses who are currently deciding which branch of nursing to go into, Victoria Bell generously shares her experience in the hope that it might encourage others to join this very worthwhile sector of the nursing profession.

After a visit to my own practice nurse, I realised that this was the career for me. I was mid-way through my degree and I had not given practice nursing a second thought until then. I was aware of the general consensus that it was not really considered an option for newly qualified nurses; however, the more I researched the more I understood that general practice is changing and that it can be a first choice of career. Every essay I did from then on was community based. I wanted to ensure that what I lacked in experience, I would make up for in knowledge.