A number of recent reports have highlighted that a large proportion of the practice nurse population is due to retire in the next 5–10 years. Historically, it has been perceived that newly qualified nurses cannot work in primary care without first gaining experience in secondary care. City and Hackney attempted to recruit experienced practice nurses at the beginning of 2015, but was unsuccessful. The advert did however attract interest from nurses who did not have the requisite skills. City and Hackney Gp Confederation, working in conjunction with Health education england north Central and east london (HEE NCEL), the local Community education provider network (CEPN), developed a 12-month training programme for salaried trainee practice nurses to be piloted. The programme started in January 2016 with a cohort of 16 nurses. The initial reaction to the role of the trainee practice nurse has been broadly positive. it is intended that the trainee general practice nurses pilot scheme will become an integral part of the primary care workforce planning processes, which will enable local Gp practices to manage recruitment into practice nurse roles in the future.
Managing workforce planning: Innovation in practice nursing. ( Practice Nursing, 2016 27(6)) (Follow this link if you have an Athens password).