Undergraduate student nurses’ perceptions of health visiting as a future career choice

Abstract

There is a shortage of health visitors in the UK due to attrition and a lack of new recruits to training. Until now, there has been little research into why qualified nurses are not training to become health visitors. Therefore, an online survey was conducted among undergraduate nursing students at a university to explore their perceptions of health visiting. The survey results show a lack of knowledge about health visiting and some misconceptions, particularly among mental health nursing students. Conclusions drawn from the study are that undergraduate student nurses would benefit from further exposure to health visiting during their nursing programmes.