An Introduction to Community and Primary Health Care

Despite current and predicted ongoing primary health care (PHC) nursing workforce shortages (Heywood & Laurence, 2018), the undergraduate nursing curricula in Australia and internationally remain largely directed towards acute care (Calma, Halcomb & Stephens, 2019; Mackey et al., 2018). Additionally, the efforts of schools of nursing in supporting the career development of new graduate nurses and their transition to practice also remain largely focused on employment in acute care tertiary settings. This chapter highlights the extent to which current undergraduate nursing curricula prepare registered nurses to work in PHC, reviews the attitudes of nurses regarding PHC employment and discusses the current challenges regarding nurse transitions between acute and PHC practice environments. Understanding the preparation nurses have for a PHC career, nurse attitudes towards and knowledge of PHC, andchallenges associated with transitions between practice environments are important to promote recruitment and retention of the PHC nursing workforce.