This study focuses upon socially mediated aspects of learning amongst mental health nurse students. Communities of Practice theory (CoP) as originally described by Lave and Wenger (1991) and more recently by Wenger et al. (2011) form the theoretical background to the study. In the UK, Mental nurse students follow the Nursing and Midwifery Council curriculum (NMC, 2010) but interactions in practice, with peer groups and the university has an influence. There has been a great deal of discussion (i.e. Côté et al., 2012 and Musker, 2011) about the disadvantages of a perceived ‘theory/practice gap’. This study treats these different influences as Communities of Practice, representative of the social factors contributing to the student's eventual understandings.
The current study set out to answer the following questi