Finding a APN preceptor for Graduate Clinical

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Specializes in L&D, Antepartum, ER obs. telemetry.

Why is it so difficult to find an APN who is willing to serve as a preceptor? They know what it is all about and they know a clinical experience needs to be done by all of us. This is so frustrating.

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Why is it so difficult to find an APN who is willing to serve as a preceptor? They know what it is all about and they know a clinical experience needs to be done by all of us. This is so frustrating.

Hi RN4JC,

Finding a preceptor can be a difficult task.

Does your school have certain requirements for the preceptor?

I came across this previous thread:

https://allnurses.com/post-graduate-nursing/finding-a-preceptor-380526.html

It may explain the difficulty in finding preceptors.

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Well, from the potential preceptor's perspective, the student is asking her/him to take on a lot of extra work and responsibility/liability for no compensation. How eager would you be to do that for a stranger? I think it's kind of a dirty trick for schools to expect students to find their own preceptors; in my grad program, we had clinical instructors/preceptors that were school faculty, vetted and evaluated on an ongoing basis by the school to be sure they were providing good supervision and instruction to students, and paid for their time and effort by the school.

Good luck, though, with your search. I hope you'll be able to work something out.

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Specializes in L&D, Antepartum, ER obs. telemetry.

To Chris2732, thanks for the link. I intend to make myself available as a preceptor for grad students after I graduate. I already have it planned out. To elkpark. There is no liability for the preceptor unless the preceptor makes a mistake. I am an RN and I have my own insurance.

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To Chris2732, thanks for the link. I intend to make myself available as a preceptor for grad students after I graduate. I already have it planned out. To elkpark. There is no liability for the preceptor unless the preceptor makes a mistake. I am an RN and I have my own insurance.

I realize you are licensed, but, in nearly all cases, your graduate clinical practicum will involve you performing acts outside the scope of your (current) licensure -- you're only able to perform those acts legally because you're being supervised by your preceptor. I guarantee you that, if something went wrong enough in your clinical practicum that you were getting sued, there is no way that your preceptor would not also be named in the suit. It's a long shot, of course, but it's a consideration. There's also just the simple day-in-day-out responsibility of being responsible for someone else's education, which is not what the person signed up for when s/he chose to take a clinical position. If an advanced practice nurse is really enthusiastic about teaching, it would be pretty easy to get a teaching position -- there's certainly plenty of need. I'm just saying that it's a more complicated proposition from the preceptor's "side" than from the student's.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I totally agree with elkpark on this issue. Schools should be arranging preceptorships for their students and offering both guidance and compensation for the preceptors if the preceptorship involves more than just a couple of days. The schools who take the students' money and then don't provide any preceptor support are doing their students, their fellow nurses, and their profession a disservice.

Sometimes students think it is no big deal - not realizing how much time and effort it takes to be a preceptor -- and not realizing that those same potential preceptors get asked over and over and over again. If they said "yes" to even half of the students requesting their time, they would spend half of their time providing education for students -- essentially "teaching for the school" half-time and getting nothing in return.

It's gone too far. The schools have got to start providing the education that the students have paid for and stop expecting local nurses to do the teaching for them for free.

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To Chris2732, thanks for the link. I intend to make myself available as a preceptor for grad students after I graduate. I already have it planned out. To elkpark. There is no liability for the preceptor unless the preceptor makes a mistake. I am an RN and I have my own insurance.

Hi RN4JC,

Like you, I intend on making myself available as a preceptor so that I can make the educational journey for many students a positive, encouraging, and welcoming experience. I have been planning this for some time. I have 2 masters degrees in different fields and currently teach at the college level. I understand the difficulty of finding a preceptor.

Have you found a preceptor yet?

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Specializes in L&D, Antepartum, ER obs. telemetry.

To Chris2732,

I did find a preceptor on Thursday. I will be working at a Diabetes Clinic which treats primarily adults. I will be learning how to regulate medications for blood sugar control and hypertension. I start on Wednesday.

I already teach nursing clinicals on a part time basis. I am getting my MSN primarily so I can teach full time. I love teaching the nursing students. My first nursing instructor told me to get out of the nursing program because I didn't have the right attitude. Ha Ha Ha.....I have been a nurse for 29 years. I teach because of her. She made my life miserable, along with a few other instructors and I wanted students to have a positive and rewarding experience. I have had students tell me that if they had not had me as an instructor, they would have dropped out of the program. So, I am really happy that I have been an encouragement to these students. I intend on volunteering at a free clinc as well as teaching and I will precept MSN students at the free clinic. That way the clinic gets two nurses working when I am there.

I feel that this is what God has called me to do to serve others.

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To Chris2732,

I did find a preceptor on Thursday. I will be working at a Diabetes Clinic which treats primarily adults. I will be learning how to regulate medications for blood sugar control and hypertension. I start on Wednesday.

I already teach nursing clinicals on a part time basis. I am getting my MSN primarily so I can teach full time. I love teaching the nursing students. My first nursing instructor told me to get out of the nursing program because I didn't have the right attitude. Ha Ha Ha.....I have been a nurse for 29 years. I teach because of her. She made my life miserable, along with a few other instructors and I wanted students to have a positive and rewarding experience. I have had students tell me that if they had not had me as an instructor, they would have dropped out of the program. So, I am really happy that I have been an encouragement to these students. I intend on volunteering at a free clinc as well as teaching and I will precept MSN students at the free clinic. That way the clinic gets two nurses working when I am there.

I feel that this is what God has called me to do to serve others.

Hi RN4JC,

I'm so happy to hear that you found a preceptor! Congratulations!

I would like to attain my MSN. However, for the past 2 years, I have not been able to find a preceptor who is willing to precept me. I had to put the MSN on hiatus until I locate a preceptor. At some point, I have to move on if a preceptor cannot be found.

How did you go about finding your preceptor?

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To Chris2732,

I did find a preceptor on Thursday. I will be working at a Diabetes Clinic which treats primarily adults. I will be learning how to regulate medications for blood sugar control and hypertension. I start on Wednesday.

I already teach nursing clinicals on a part time basis. I am getting my MSN primarily so I can teach full time. I love teaching the nursing students. My first nursing instructor told me to get out of the nursing program because I didn't have the right attitude. Ha Ha Ha.....I have been a nurse for 29 years. I teach because of her. She made my life miserable, along with a few other instructors and I wanted students to have a positive and rewarding experience. I have had students tell me that if they had not had me as an instructor, they would have dropped out of the program. So, I am really happy that I have been an encouragement to these students. I intend on volunteering at a free clinc as well as teaching and I will precept MSN students at the free clinic. That way the clinic gets two nurses working when I am there.

I feel that this is what God has called me to do to serve others.

Just out of curiosity, is this your only clinical practicum in your graduate program? If so, what kind of MSN are you getting that your clinical experience can be limited to medication management in DM and HTN?

Congrats on finding a preceptor, and best wishes for your program!

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Specializes in L&D, Antepartum, ER obs. telemetry.

Hi Chris2732,

I called every hopsital in the area and spoke with the director of staff development. They could contact all the NP and CNS who worked in their hospital. I also called and emailed the state Nurse Practitioner association and they sent out a letter in their weekly newsletter.

I called every nurse practitioner in the phone book. I have a friend who is a professor at University of Michigan, and she gave me names of possible preceptors. My school had given me a list of possible preceptors, but it was out of date and fairly useless. My instructor gave me the name of the nurse who is going to be my preceptor and her name is not even on the list the school gave me!

Where do you live?

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Specializes in L&D, Antepartum, ER obs. telemetry.

To elkpark,

this will not be my only clinical. My MSN is in adult health.

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