Selvstendige helsefagarbeidere i morgendagens helsetjeneste

Work in home nursing care is characterised by individual work and time limits and requires an independent professional. This article investigates how apprentices in the health care profession in Norway develop independence during their apprenticeship period in home nursing care. The study addresses the apprentices’ perspective on their own development in the encounter with the field of practice and the patient living at home. The research question the article answers is: How do health care apprentices experience the development of independent professional practices during the apprenticeship period in home nursing care? 12 apprentices and newly qualified health care professionals were interviewed individually, with a semi-structured interview guide as a starting point. The results show that health care apprentices encounter a working day in home nursing care where the individual apprentice’s independence is both a prerequisite for the work, and a consequence of high workload. The development of independence at work can be linked to the apprentices’ participation in practice, gradual and adapted responsibility and to guidance and reflection in a community of practice. The study claims that development takes place in interaction with the supervisor, other colleagues and patients. When apprentices are given tasks adapted to their level of competence, they experience control and develop independence.