Mentors and preceptors in the nursing profession

Preparation of nurses who precept baccalaureate nursing students: a descriptive study

Clinical preceptorship is employed by baccalaureate nursing education programs as a capstone experience and a means of initiating the professional socialization of senior-level students who will shortly be new graduates. This quantitative, descriptive study explored the perceptions about preceptor preparation among nurses who precept baccalaureate nursing students. Mercer's Role Attainment Theory was the theoretical framework for this study, in which 75 participants from two hospitals in the Midwest completed a survey. Two key findings emerged from the data: All preceptors of senior-level nursing students want to know what their responsibilities are with regard to the student and the preceptorship experience, and nurses in critical care areas identified learning how to teach critical thinking to senior-level students as more essential than did nurses in other areas.

The One-Minute Preceptor

The One-Minute Preceptor (OMP) is a teaching tool that has been used successfully for over 10 years in family practice residency programs. It was designed to enhance the teaching skills of physicians involved in the clinical education of new residents. This article describes the five steps of the OMP and how it was taught to a group of nurse preceptors and reports their evaluations of the impact that this education had on their ability to instruct and offer feedback to the novice nurse.

Nurses' perceptions of stress and support in the preceptor role

This study was undertaken to examine whether staff nurses experience stress when they are precepting, and the sources of the stress. Another purpose was to describe preceptors' perceptions of support from others, such as coworkers and managers. A convenience sample of 65 registered nurse preceptors completed an investigator-developed questionnaire asking for their views on stress and support in the preceptor role. Most respondents (89%) reported that precepting is stressful to some degree, with the most common reasons being workload, skill level of the preceptee, organizational support, and preceptor confidence. Despite the high levels of stress reported, most subjects described adequate support as preceptors from coworkers and managers. Preceptors are critical for the training and retention of new nurses. It is important that stressors related to precepting be acknowledged and strategies be employed to reduce stress. Recommendations for support and strategies are included.

Clinical supervision revisited

AIM

The paper is a means to signpost the hazards of clinical supervision (or supervision) as it is currently understood and enacted.

BACKGROUND

The interpretation or understanding given to clinical supervision by professional groups is based on several factors namely origin/history, dynamic changes, relevance in the concept, language used and the meaning attached to this language.

EVALUATION

In this paper we take a position that clinical supervision is not a thing or a homogenous entity. We describe it as a 'multi-meaninged' phenomenon defined through the context of its use.

KEY ISSUES

Who uses it and in what circumstances leads to different versions of clinical supervision with different enactments and functions. Practitioners and managers do not necessarily recognize this state of affairs.

CONCLUSIONS

We make some suggestions for more complex versions that may be suitable as the profession develops.

Mentoring matters: Developing rural nurses knowledge and skills

Mentoring, the alliance of two people with varying degrees of experience in order to create opportunities for support and learning, is being encouraged as a response to current workforce issues in Australian rural nursing. The nursing profession is beginning to recognise the benefits of mentorship in providing psychosocial support and role acquisition skills to novice practitioners. These outcomes are valuable for enhancing the recruitment and retention of staff. The Mentor Development and Support Project of The Association for Australian Rural Nurses (AARN), established in 2003, was a strategy for increasing mentoring in the rural nursing workforce. This project aimed to develop the capacity of rural nurses to mentor effectively, as well as provide support for them for the duration of the mentoring partnership. This article reports on aspects of the AARN project. It includes a discussion of the need for planned mentor development opportunities and provides the rationale for the curriculum content of project workshops. It also includes evaluated outcomes for participants in the project.

Promoting Effective Preceptorship Experiences

Preceptors and students alike want and need a positive preceptorship experience. There are some factors, however, that must be considered when arranging such experiences, including sufficient time, workload management, use of space, monetary payment for preceptorship, preparation for the role, the one-to-one relationship, and the learning environment. This article concludes with specific strategies that address these factors. The first uses a theoretical model, one advocated by the authors, the Preceptor Enabling Model. This model delineates the roles and responsibilities of students, preceptors, staff, and faculty. Preceptors, too, need preparatory workshops, paid time for orientation to the role, evaluation of preceptors, and finally, support.

Nurturing the future of midwifery through mentoring

Mentoring has become a popular approach for providing support in developing knowledge and practice across a variety of disciplines. Midwives often provide mentoring for midwifery mentees and newly graduated midwives without formal recognition or predetermined outcomes. Little literature exists within midwifery practice outlining how its use may be of value. This paper presents literature around the topic of mentoring, discussing possible benefits and suggesting ways in which mentoring may be utilised within midwifery to promote personal and professional development. Finally, it presents some of the limited examples of mentoring emerging from the midwifery literature.

Role Transitions for New Clinical Leaders in Perinatal Practice

New clinical leaders are transitioning to their roles in a demanding and short-staffed profession where change is constant and finances are uncertain. For successful role transition in the specialty of perinatal nursing, both new leaders and their mentors must understand the attributes of potential leaders, the role of mentoring, and the need for clearly articulated expectations. This article discusses these processes in the context of the considerable skill set required for leadership in nursing today. The similarities and differences between the roles of manager and leader are discussed.

Recognition of expertise: an important concept in the acquisition of nephrology nursing expertise

The present article, which is abstracted from a larger study into the acquisition and exercise of nephrology nursing expertise, aims to explore the concept of recognition of expertise. The study used grounded theory methodology and involved 17 registered nurses who were practising in a metropolitan renal unit in New South Wales, Australia. Concurrent data collection and analysis was undertaken, incorporating participant observations and interviews. According to nurses in this study, patients, doctors and other nurses recognized that some nurses were experts while others were not. In addition, being trusted, being a role model and teaching others were important components of being recognized as an expert nephrology nurse. Of importance for nursing, the results of the present study indicate that knowledge and experience are not sufficient to ensure expert practice; recognition of expertise by others is an important function of expertise acquisition.

Coming full circle: mentorship in HIV/AIDS care

The role of the mentor has been found to be crucial for learning, yet mentorship in HIV/AIDS nursing care has not been well documented. The purpose of this study was to (a) examine the characteristics of a nurse mentor in HIV care as perceived by nursing and medical students and HIV staff, and (b) explore an HIV nurse mentor's perceptions of her role and responsibilities in the professional development of students and staff. Mentorship, as a process of "coming full circle," was highlighted by the mentor's accounts of early influences in her career as well as students' and staff members' intents to facilitate the professional development of the next generation. The legacy of excellent HIV nursing care can be continued if expert HIV nurse mentors are identified and encouraged to work with students, inexperienced nurses, and health care providers. Health care institutions have a responsibility to foster mentorship in HIV/AIDS care to assure quality health care for clients and the professional development of expert nurses in HIV/AIDS care.

The support that mentors receive in the clinical setting

This paper looks at the support systems that mentors in a trust both need and have. It was a study to examine the causes of stress within mentoring with a view to exploring this aspect of the role and to examine the clinical learning environment. The English National Board (ENB) has stated that mentoring is a requirement for all nurse training. The literature speaks of the importance of the role of the mentor to the student. There has also been research showing that this role is stressful and needs support if it is to be fully effective. However, there is little research into the nature and quality of the support received or required by mentors. This study addresses issues that had not been previously addressed in that it looks at the nature of the support required by the mentors to enable them to perform their duties both to the student and to the patients in their care. The study is largely ethnographic in nature. It consists of a short series of unstructured interviews of selected experienced mentors as a means of collecting data to enable the construction of a questionnaire that was submitted to all mentors within the trust. This is to allow the trust and educational institution to work on developing newer and better support systems both for the present placement and also for future placements.

An Experience of Peer Mentoring with Student Nurses: Enhancement of Personal and Professional Growth

This article discusses the importance of peer mentoring in nursing education. The current literature is reviewed and areas for further research are identified. Most specifically, the article explores the results of a recent research study conducted at Southern Cross University in Australia. The research investigated the relationship between personal and professional growth and peer mentoring with a group of women nurses. Seven nurses participated in this qualitative research project. Six of the participants were student nurses enrolled in an undergraduate nursing degree and the seventh participant was the degree program coordinator. The research was conducted over a 12-week period and was located in critical paradigm. The research methods used were reflective journaling and interviewing. The results indicated that the process of peer mentoring in nursing education demonstrated a strong relationship to personal and professional growth for all of the participants. Characteristics of the peer mentoring process such as shared learning, shared caring, reciprocity, commitment to each other's personal and professional growth, and friendship, are discussed.

An exploration of the preceptor role: preceptors' perceptions of benefits, rewards, supports and commitment to the preceptor role

This Australian study, a replication of Canadian research by Dibert & Goldenberg, was undertaken to explore the relationship between preceptors' perceptions of benefits, rewards and support, and their commitment to the preceptor role. A convenience sample of 134 nurse preceptors involved in an undergraduate nursing course were invited to complete a four-part questionnaire consisting of the Preceptor's Perception of Benefits and Rewards Scale, the Preceptor's Perception of Support Scale, the Commitment to the Preceptor Role Scale, and demographic details. The results, in the main, parallel those of the original research, with differences reflecting the distinct nature and the more recent use of preceptorship in Australia. The results indicate a clear commitment to the preceptor role and a perception that both material and non-material benefits are derived from acting in the role. Additionally, support from the institution and coworkers was considered vital for participation in the role. This not only has implications for nursing educators, administrators and potential preceptors, but also for those being preceptored.

A Review of Preceptorship in Undergraduate Nursing Education: Implications for Staff Development

Nurse educators regularly develop clinical learning experiences for undergraduate students using the expertise of experienced RNs as preceptors. Preceptors help students develop a knowledge base and clinical skills. This article reports a literature review and summarizes the benefits of preceptorship, outlines preceptor responsibilities and qualities, and discusses the process of preceptor selection and role preparation. Suggestions for collaborative efforts regarding the preceptor experience among staff nurses, nurse educators, and staff development educators are highlighted.