Mental health nurses' views and experiences of working with undergraduate nursing students: A descriptive exploratory study

A Cross-Sectional Study on Nursing Preceptors' Perspectives About Preceptorship and Organizational Support

Background

A skilled and experienced preceptor enhances nursing candidates' education. Students can acquire invaluable insights by observing and learning from the preceptor's professional nursing practice. Organizations must furnish sufficient support to guarantee the efficacy of preceptors in their responsibilities.

Objective

To evaluate preceptors' perceptions of the preceptorship and the relationship between organizational support and preceptor perspective of preceptorship.

Methods

A cross-sectional correlational design was deployed using purposive sampling of 90 nurses in the UAE. Between August 2023 and December 2023, a self-reported questionnaire with 40 items on preceptor perspectives of preceptorship (PPP) was distributed to nurses. The student's t-test, Chi-square, Monte Carlo, Fisher Exact, and Pearson coefficient were used.

Results

The results revealed that most participants were female (71.1%), with 48.9% between 36 and 45 years old. The mean score for the PPP was high (73.81 ± 10.92). There was a significant association between age, years of nursing experience, work area, and overall PPP. A strong correlation was found between self-preparation (r = .675), preceptorship perception commitment (r = .762), and the benefits of preceptorship (r = .830), along with organizational support.

Conclusion

The preceptors in this study had a positive perspective about preceptorship. Their acknowledgment of preceptorship's benefits to the organization shows their optimism and dedication. Future studies should analyze preceptor training programs and devise initiatives to improve clinical teaching.

A systematic review of preceptor's experience in supervising undergraduate nursing students: Lessons learned for mental health nursing

BACKGROUND

Preceptorship in nursing has been a valued concept in nursing. Speciality area such as mental health nursing has a massive gap in research study. To develop sturdy mental health nursing workforce, it is necessary to conduct more studies.

AIM

This literature review aims to explore preceptor's experience in precepting undergraduate nursing students in mental health.

DESIGN

Systematic review of literature.

METHODS

The systematic review was conducted from January 2021 to August 2021. Population of the studies included Registered Nurses supervising nursing students in the clinical area. Only studies conducted in English were included. A systematic search using EBSCO Host databases, CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE APA Psycinfo & APA PsycArticles, has been used in this review paper. Papers were also selected from the citation reference of included papers. The new version of the PRISMA 2020 guidelines used to represent the process of selection of papers has been incorporated as part of this review. The final set of data included 14 original papers meeting the eligibility criteria which involved quantitative (n = 5), qualitative (n = 4) and mixed-method studies (n = 5).

RESULT

Results were presented under three major themes: time-consuming, lack of recognition and need extra support. Further research is required in the mental health clinical setting to effectively explore the impact of relationships between preceptors and the preceptees.

CONCLUSION

Preceptors reported supervising students in the clinical area has many benefits. However, some challenges they raised were increase in workload, requiring some guidance and acknowledgement from the organization.

Associations of Preceptors' Training Needs With Clinical Teaching Experience and Training Received

Background Although training can improve the quality of clinical teaching for nurse preceptors, research on the training needs of junior versus senior preceptors is limited. This study sought to examine the differences in their needs by comparing their clinical teaching experience and the training they received. Method A secondary analysis of a cross-sectional survey was conducted in three hospitals using the Clinical Teaching Behavior Inventory (CTBI). Survey data were analyzed using the chi-square test, the independent t test, and multiple regression analysis. Results The differences (N = 252) in the subscales of building a learning atmosphere and committing to teaching were not statistically significant (p > .05). Generally, the mean CTBI scores of trained junior preceptors were significantly higher than those of untrained senior preceptors (p < .001). Conclusion Training yields more significant improvements in self-perceived clinical teaching behavior than clinical teaching experience. [J Contin Educ Nurs. 2022;53(4):165-170.].

Registered nurse preceptors' perceptions of changes in the organisation of clinical placements in psychiatric care for undergraduate nursing students: A mixed-methods study

AIM

The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of registered nurse (RN) preceptors working in psychiatric care concerning the organisation of clinical placements and their own preceptor role with undergraduate nursing students.

BACKGROUND

Clinical placements play a central role in undergraduate nursing education, and it is crucial that psychiatric care clinical placements are of high quality.

METHODS

The RNs' perceptions before and after the introduction of changes in the organisation of clinical placements were compared. A total of 103 surveys with quantitative and qualitative data were returned, from 59 RN preceptors at baseline and 44 RN preceptors at follow-up. Data were analysed with non-parametrical statistics and qualitative content analysis.

RESULTS

The majority of RN preceptors perceived the changes to have been beneficial, but there was still a desire for the students to have more time in their psychiatric care clinical placements according to the RN preceptors. At follow-up, significantly more RN preceptors perceived that they had an intentional pedagogical foundation for their precepting.

CONCLUSIONS

We conclude that the changes introduced into the clinical placement are beneficial, but there is still need for further improvement in relation to the amount of time student nurses spend in psychiatric clinical placements and in the opportunities provided for RN preceptors to attend preceptor preparation courses.

Implementing a New Capstone Leadership Clinical Course

BACKGROUND

Nurse educators are challenged to ensure clinical education meets the changing health care environments and needs.

PROBLEM

New nurses remain unprepared for practice, have insufficient foundational leadership capacities, and lack systems-thinking awareness.

APPROACH

Responding to educational gaps, increased enrollment, and scarce clinical placements, faculty used an eclectic education model to develop a new capstone leadership clinical course that included 5 types of experiences. The total acute care clinical hours were reduced, while adding leadership-focused experiences and simulated learning.

OUTCOMES

Stakeholders' evaluations indicate the pilot provided opportunities to strengthen students' leadership capacity, systems thinking, and professional identity while still providing sufficient practice managing care of multiple patients, engaging in teamwork, and applying evidence.

CONCLUSION

The new clinical course addressed students' transition into practice needs and enrollment capacity issues. Thoughtful planning by invested stakeholders, communication among faculty, and clear expectations are necessary to implement eclectic clinical models.

Looking beneath the surface of a preceptor-training programme through a realist evaluation

South Africa's department of health devoted themselves to the clinical nursing education and training model, which indorses preceptors as essential stakeholders to promote competence in students. A preceptor-training programme was developed that build on this model and implemented through an intervention. The initial programme theory hypothesised that trained preceptors would promote support and develop competence in students in comparison to untrained preceptors. Results showed a poor outcome because few preceptors participated and a high student attrition rates. The authors then posed the question "Why did the preceptorship training programme not work?" This article offers insight into the context, mechanism, and outcome of the preceptor-training programme through a realist evaluation. Reflective field notes, gathered during the intervention, were used and gave insight regarding how, for whom, and under which circumstances the programme could work and offered a refined programme theory for preceptorship. The main conclusion drawn showed that a preceptor-training programme alone is not the sole determining factor to ensure preceptors' motivation to transfer their learning; a systems approach, ensuring the effectiveness of the programme, should be followed. Reflection on findings indicated the implementation context as a major determining factor of the training programme.