Communication Between Preceptor and Novice RN

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Apr 10, 2014

Welcome to AN! The largest online nursing community!

What class is this for? What other research have you complied?

tritt3180 · Apr 11, 2014

This is for a class in my nursing program. I'm in my last stretch before graduation in May. I have searched the Ovid database through my school and have compiled a few articles. I've even checked on here, but it seems as though most of the information I came across was older than 5 years. I was hoping to find something a little more recent. I start my own preceptorship on Wednesday.

SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN · Apr 11, 2014

What are some good and bad experiences you've had that I can learn from?

I had excellent preceptors and cannot recall a bad experience. There may have been a moment or two when one of us miscommunicated about something small, but it had no consequence on patient care and we resolved the communication glitch very quickly.

What barriers did you find to be effective in communication as the preceptor and as the preceptee?

I think most of the barriers I found were my own. I had excellent, thorough preceptors, most of which had over 10 years of experience. I tend to want to know everything immediately, and I can be a slow learner until I've done something hands-on a few times. I remember rolling my eyes at myself and asking for clarification/further assistance at times, but the important thing was, of course, that I asked.

Was there a generational difference between the two of you, and how did that affect the effectiveness of your communication?

Yes, there was frequently a large generational difference. From my perspective, there was no impact. My preceptors were very clear in their communication styles, and that encouraged me to do the same. It taught me how to communicate well and non-aggressively, even over important issues.

Was gender an issue?Not remotely.

Did you stay at that job (as a new RN) after the preceptorship ended? How long?

I remained at that job for the length of time the Army needed me there, which was about 2 years. I then received orders to relocate.

Did you feel comfortable expressing your concerns to your preceptor? why or why not?

I did and on several occasions would report findings to them. Some of them were valid concerns, some were not. The cool thing was that my concerns were always taken seriously and my preceptor would either explain what was going verbally or occasionally take me into the room and (with the patient's permission) show me as hands-on as possible. It made for an incredibly valuable learning experience because I was getting this wealth of knowledge from an experienced RN, not just a yes or no answer.

What made your preceptorship experience positive/negative?

I think the cool thing was that the entire floor was rooting for me and had my back. I had two primary preceptors who were of the same age, but if I had questions or needed help, everyone was around to offer a hand. They were very excited for us (myself and another preceptee) when we began to wrap our heads around the concept and function on our own. For several months, our preceptors would exclaim, "Fly, little birdies, fly!" when we got something right. It sounds goofy, but it was a sincere form of praise, and we were very anxious to fly!

Did you as the novice RN work as a CNA, unit clerk, tech previously? Did that affect how you communicated? Same for the preceptor - did that affect the communication of a new RN with that kind of background experience?

I worked as a EMT-B and a CNA before I was an RN. I think it did because I knew what the UAP were looking for when they asked for guidance. I also knew their scope of practice and was able to better define what I expected from them. I think my experience as an EMT/CNA was invaluable because it introduced me to the important concepts of the nursing field and immersed me in the communication methods most commonly used therein (shift report, phone calls, face-to-face updates, etc).

OP, you may care to note that in about a year's time, I became a preceptor myself on the aforementioned ward that I had been trained on. I had a young officer who was with me in training for about 2 months. I found myself relying on the methods of teaching that my own preceptors had used in order to "bring her up" in nursing.

While education in a formal setting is important, preceptorship is what truly makes a nurse a nurse. Nursing--specifically the critical thinking piece--is a trade that nurses must learn from the nurses who came before them. It is, of course, possible to pick it up on your own and develop a solid critical thinking base, but the most effective way to mint a new grad into a novice nurse is to have him/her learn from an older nurse. There is something in the human-to-human interaction of a preceptorship and the melding of two minds that helps the younger mind to pattern itself after the older one. THAT is how nursing is passed from generation to generation. And that's also why I feel that nursing school can never turn out fully-prepared nurses...it cannot provide that long-term preceptor-preceptee relationship.

Off my soapbox. :)

RunBabyRN · Apr 11, 2014

Congrats on making it this far! I graduate in May as well, and just wrapped up my preceptorship.

What are some good and bad experiences you've had that I can learn from My experience was AWESOME. I think that as a new grad/final semester student, try not to overwhelm yourself, and focus more on getting things nailed down before adding more to the mix (like taking two patients and really handling every single thing very well before moving on to three). Be open to new experiences, take criticism as constructive and learn from it.
What barriers did you find to be effective in communication as the preceptor and as the preceptee? Both my preceptor and I are pretty open communicators. I found that communicating any outside of normal findings, anything that needed to happen, whatever, immediately works best.
Was there a generational difference between the two of you, and how did that affect the effectiveness of your communication? My preceptor is about my mother's age (I'm 34). I think the only "barrier" with this is that she's not very tech-savvy, so we couldn't communicate by e-mail, and she's not adept to finding things online when needed. Otherwise, we did just fine. I was able to research a few things online for patients, which she really liked, and I found updated resources to replace some of the ones we were routinely giving to patients.
Was gender an issue? No, I've never found this to be an issue.
Did you stay at that job (as a new RN) after the preceptorship ended? How long? I wasn't employed, however, the NM was the one who lined up the preceptorship for me, and has since offered me a position upon licensure.
Did you feel comfortable expressing your concerns to your preceptor? why or why not? I did, but I have grown more bold in my "age". I may not have done so in my younger days. She was always open to whatever concerns I had.
What made your preceptorship experience positive/negative? I earned my preceptor's trust reasonably quickly, and she let me work pretty independently. Communication both ways was KEY. I also really liked the feel of the unit, and the other nurses were wonderful with me.
Did you as the novice RN work as a CNA, unit clerk, tech previously? I was a hospital corpsman, first responder, phlebotomist and lactation specialist before this. (I precepted in mother/baby, so the lactation stuff is pertinent here.)
Did that affect how you communicated? Probably- I understood what needed to be communicated and what didn't.
Same for the preceptor - did that affect the communication of a new RN with that kind of background experience? n/a

tritt3180 · Apr 15, 2014

Thank you so much for your responses! They were very thorough, and I'm excited to create my own experiences with a preceptor starting tomorrow! :)