Bridging the gap. Community partnerships in nursing education: advancing primary health care in practice

An innovative approach to nursing education was piloted by the School of Nursing at Flinders University and Noarlunga Health Services, a generic community health service, in Adelaide, South Australia. The approach, encapsulated in the four-year Community Enrichment Project (CEP), focused on Primary Health Care (PHC) and nursing practice. The CEP developed curriculum and organised student placements, which promoted understanding of PHC in a way that integrated acute and community sectors. This paper considers the impact of splitting the students' third year final practicum, of seven weeks, between acute and community placements. Integral to the overall outcome of the project was the community agencies' cooperation in accepting students for longer clinical placements than had previously been the norm. This resulted in students being engaged in activities and projects in diverse areas. The students were aided in linking PHC theory to practice by the CEP team members who mentored them throughout these placements. Outcomes demonstrated the ability of students to integrate PHC theory to practice, across a variety of health settings. Students moved from a position of little knowledge or understanding of PHC, to an integrated knowledge of PHC principles and the relationship to enhanced nursing practice.