Primary care is “a model of care that supports first-contact, accessible, continuous, comprehensive and coordinated person-focused care” (World Health Organization, 2024, para. 3). It is rooted in community-based healthcare that addresses a broad range of needs across the lifespan and is typically offered in settings such as family physician practices, nurse practitioner-led clinics, collaborative clinics and community health centres. Interdisciplinary primary care teams are a key strategy to strengthen primary care delivery and quality (Aggarwal et al., 2023, Aggarwal and Williams, 2019, Lukey et al., 2021). Interdisciplinary primary care teams promote healthcare professional satisfaction; expand service provision; and positively impact recommended testing, screening and preventative care (Wranik et al., 2019). Specifically, Registered Nurses (RNs) working in primary care teams support team effectiveness by providing a broad range of services, such as assessment and triage; chronic disease prevention and management; treatment of acute/episodic illness; developmental care of infants, children and the childbearing family; routine immunization; health education and self-management support; and care coordination and navigation (Norful et al., 2017, Poitras et al., 2018). RN interventions are associated with positive patient and healthcare system outcomes, including improved patient satisfaction, lower rates of hospitalization, increased health promotion/education and chronic disease management (Lukewich et al., 2022, Lukewich et al., 2022).

Given the growing demand to integrate RNs into primary care settings, nursing leaders, policymakers and interprofessional partners have identified a need to enhance education to prepare the RN workforce for careers in primary care (Bauer and Bodenheimer, 2017, Bodenheimer and Mason, 2016, Flinter et al., 2017). Internationally, these interest-holders are working to strengthen primary care nursing education and training at pre- and post-licensure levels (Bodenheimer and Mason, 2016, Health Education England, 2017, Poitras et al., 2024). However, existing evidence shows undergraduate nursing programs tend to focus heavily on acute care concepts and experiences (Calma et al., 2019, Wojnar and Whelan, 2017). Primary care content and exposure are limited; thus, nursing students often do not have a clear understanding of RN roles in primary care and are under-prepared to practice within these settings (Calma et al., 2021, Koh et al., 2022, McInnes et al., 2019). Undergraduate nursing students largely perceive a career in primary care as less desirable than careers in environments viewed as more technical and fast-paced, such as medical-surgical inpatients, critical care and pediatrics (Anyango et al., 2024, Hunt et al., 2020, Matarese et al., 2019). However, those who are exposed to primary care education tend to have more positive perceptions and inclinations toward a career in this equally complex setting (Calma et al., 2019, Calma et al., 2022).

To address population health needs effectively and meet future workforce demands, nursing programs are accountable to deliver education that keeps pace with the evolving healthcare context. However, it is unclear how and to what extent primary care is included in undergraduate nursing programs to prepare the workforce to practice in this setting and what factors have been reported to influence integration. As opportunities for RNs in primary care grow, there is a need to better understand the attributes and extent (i.e., overall emphasis and student exposure) of primary care education in undergraduate nursing programs and to identify relevant gaps in evidence. Existing research recommends integrating high-quality primary care teaching-learning experiences (Kako et al., 2024, McInnes et al., 2015, Wojnar and Whelan, 2017) and evaluating the impacts (Bloomfield et al., 2018, Calma et al., 2022). However, successful integration and evaluation relies on available evidence about educational attributes, potential influencing factors and means by which to evaluate education.