Exploring trainee nursing associates’ experiences of home placements in primary care and social care

Background: An increasing number of trainee nursing associates undertake their main placement in primary care and social care, but there is a gap in our understanding of the experiences of trainee nursing associates in these settings.

Aim: To explore the experiences of trainee nursing associates of home placements in primary care or social care settings and provide initial insight into what may support or hinder their professional development in these settings.

Method: A mixed-method study design was used with qualitative interviews complemented by a quantitative survey. Participants were recruited among 27 trainee nursing associates from one London university.

Findings: Eleven trainee nursing associates were interviewed and 15 replied to the survey. Participants’ motivations were to develop professionally and advance their careers. They experienced supportive learning environments where they felt part of the team, but also unsupportive learning environments where they were denied protected learning time and supervised practice. Several participants experienced abuses of power and unfair treatment, including non-payment for university days and external placements, sexual harassment and marginalisation.

Conclusion: Trainee nursing associates may have poor experiences of working in primary care and social care and be subjected to unfair treatment and abuse. Action is required to ensure their professional development is facilitated, not hindered.

This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit Accepted Manuscript of an article to be published in Nursing Management. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7748/nm.2023.e2098