Have you ever asked yourself why you wanted to be a community nurse in the first place? Perhaps you were interested in health promotion, or children’s services. Maybe it was the lack of shift work and an improved work–life balance, or simply the variety of patients in the
community. Whatever your reasons, it seems that less and less of your colleagues feel the same way, with community nurse attrition rates on the rise, and the numbers of retirees not being replaced by new registrants.