Abstract
The emphasis on health as opposed to disease in the Project 2000 curriculum is consistent with the concept of the nurse of the future working across both institutional and non-institutional settings. This paper presents data from focus group interviews in two study centres which shed light on the Project 2000 course as a preparation for community nursing practice. The views of managers and senior clinical practitioners illuminate some key issues. Focus group participants acknowledged that the course provided a greater emphasis on health than traditional courses and that students appear to gain a broader understanding of health within the community at large than students on traditional courses. More controversial issues which emerged from the data include the constraints inherent in the community nursing service as a result of its current structure, issues of skill mix and in particular a health visiting service which does not lend itself to the creation of staff nurse posts.