Nursing School Preceptorship

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 10, 2017

Hello!
I was wondering if anyone could give me some insight on how your preceptorship went, what choices of departments you were able to choose from and what helped you make that decision, and any advice on how to make the most of your preceptorship!
Anything is appreciated, thank you :)

I didn't get a preceptorship in my BSN program. (Perhaps because that was four decades ago.) From my standpoint as a preceptor, however, I'll address your questions.

It really doesn't matter where you do your preceptorship because you have SO MUCH to learn. Maybe your heart is set on pediatrics but the only preceptorship available is in long term care. It would be easy to get bummed about that, but you know what? You have so much to learn, you can learn just as much in LTC as you could in PICU. You won't learn the exact same things, of course, but you will still learn valuable lessons that you'll use throughout your career. You'll learn how to assess changes in patient condition while just saying "hello" to your patient, time management, drug names and doses and uses, where to find policies and procedures and how to use them, how to organize your day, the best way to clean up poop, how to talk to patients, family members, physicians, etc. It will still be a valuable experience.

BUT . . . and this doesn't apply everywhere, but it does apply somewhere . . . my manager views the preceptorship as a semester-long job interview. She has the entire preceptor group keeping an eye on the student to see how she learns, what sort of attitude she has, whether she gets along with the staff and fits into the team. If she gets good reports, the student gets a job offer -- sometimes even if the student hasn't actually applied to our unit. So assuming you're given the choice, it makes sense to choose a place to do your preceptorship that you might actually like to work. Best case scenario, you like the unit, the unit likes you and you get a job offer.

Still, don't be too disappointed if you don't get your first choice or even your third. You'll still learn a lot, make contacts who can help you further on down the road (because you never know who is going to be the next nurse manager of the place you really WANT to work and LTC nurse managers have been hired to be managers of ICU -- trust me, I know this).

Hope this helps.

Scottishtape · Dec 10, 2017

We got to choose our top three hospitals, top three units, and which shift we wanted. Then, they went through and placed us, trying their best to give us some of our top choices.

I chose a medical progressive care unit because I knew I'd see a lot of different things, and it's critical care (where I wanted to be when I graduated), so it would give me some good insight into the actual job.

I got all of my top choices, and ended up getting offered a position at the place I did my practicum.

rnmm18 · Dec 10, 2017

Wow! Thank you so much for replying back to me. I honestly needed to hear that and gives me peace in knowing whatever happens will make me a better nurse in some way. Thank you!