Practising for progression into nursing: a collaborative approach to the preparation of potential nursing students.

A collaborative project was undertaken between the Clinical Skills Laboratory at the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences (FHSCS) at Kingston University/St George's University of London (KU/SGUL) and Kingston Borough Schools Vocational Development Service. The project was designed to address the challenge of preparing potential health care students to make informed decisions about a career in health care through the development of a strong interface between the FHSCS and local schools and colleges. School students were invited to attend sessions in the clinical skills/simulation laboratory working alongside student nurses to learn fundamental nursing skills. An evaluative study undertaken into the project showed that the experience in the simulation laboratory was viewed very positively by students and helped them to learn new skills as well as to make or affirm positive career choices for nursing. Of the 30 school students participating in this study, 12 applied for and were accepted into the pre-registration nursing programme at this university.