Multiple preceptors

[Jules A]

There seem to be a lot of mention of multiple preceptors as a reason new grads have not been successful at orientation. How do you feel about it? I've always had multiple preceptors, even as a new grad, and actually thought it was helpful because I was exposed to different styles and could pick and choose the things I liked from each person.

[Jules A, MSN]

I think people who come to the unit with an already established foundation of how they "do nursing" are usually comfortable with and even thrive on having a variety of preceptors. They're open to learning new ways, but they don't sweat it when they hear conflicting advice from multiple teachers, because they've seen enough to know there is often more than one "right" way to do something and they'll pick what works best for them when they're on their own.

For a new grad who has yet to develop even a basic foundation, though, I think multiple preceptors, with multiple ways of doing things and different expectations, can be a disaster. They need to learn one way and learn it thoroughly and start to feel comfortable in that style. Only after basic competence is established using Preceptor A's methods are they ready to learn about Preceptors B and C and their variations. It would be like taking a kindergartner and saying, "There are many ways of writing and you need to know them all. You'll be learning block printing, cursive, Palmer Method--we'll switch off each day." Too much information, too soon. Learn ONE method well first, even though as you progress in your career you may come to prefer a completely different one. I've seen too many people new to the profession who became frustrated from input from too many other people and ended up neither comfortable nor competent, just confused.

Excellent points for some but not all. I've seen many new grads, myself included, that thrived with different preceptors.

[Zookeeper3]

we have an extensive new grad ICU internship with 12 weeks of didactic mixed with clinical.... they only have one preceptor, then they are moved to nights for 6 to 8 weeks and get me.

From a teaching point of view, it's exhausting hard work and I won't let my orients do anything alone until I've seen them do it at least once and I'm confident with it... (ie heart assessment, IV start). So it makes no sense to me for the first few weeks to switch up unless there was a major personality issue. I know what strengths and weaknesses to build on and how this person learns and how I need to taylor my teaching.

Now on the last week or two, when the focus is on time management and organization, it would be a great idea to switch up preceptors... and learn several ways to skin the cat.

So thats my two cents. I say minimal preceptors.

[stockmanjr, BSN]

Going to bump this thread with my recent experience. I was in a fancy new grad program and had eight different preceptors in my fourteen shifts in the program. It was a complete disaster as every shift I had to prove myself. To make matters worse half of the preceptors didn't bother to write their daily evals and one even took my binder and put it somewhere for her convenance and forgot to tell anyone. Needless to say it was a disaster and I had to leave the program. Now I'm left questioning myself as an RN because I'm totally not sure if it's me or the program or both.

[ljo28, BSN]

I'd say that this orientation program should be well thought of especially for a new grad. While it is good to have a structured orientation schedule with assigned preceptors, this should be reassessed based on the orientee's progress. Sometimes it is just a issue of personality clash which can be easily fixed by changing the preceptors. Other times it may be the learning curve. In my experience the unit educator should be more involved in the orientation process.

[stockmanjr, BSN]

4 minutes ago, ljo28 said:

I'd say that this orientation program should be well thought of especially for a new grad. While it is good to have a structured orientation schedule with assigned preceptors, this should be reassessed based on the orientee's progress. Sometimes it is just a issue of personality clash which can be easily fixed by changing the preceptors. Other times it may be the learning curve. In my experience the unit educator should be more involved in the orientation process.

In my case the unit educator had zero involvement. Not quite sure what they actually did on my floor.

[ljo28, BSN]

That is wrong. They should have had a regular meeting with you and your preceptor to discuss progress. Orientation time is very valuable and every effort should be taken to utilize this time to the max in favor of the orientee.

[stockmanjr, BSN]

4 minutes ago, ljo28 said:

That is wrong. They should have had a regular meeting with you and your preceptor to discuss progress. Orientation time is very valuable and every effort should be taken to utilize this time to the max in favor of the orientee.

As I mentioned above several preceptors refused or forgot to fill out my daily evals and one even put my binder somewhere that it wasn't supposed to be. It was just a disaster as the floor I was on was sink or swim.

[LovingLife123]

Sometimes multiple preceptors are needed. If a new grad is struggling with one preceptor, they will often give them to other ones to see if it’s a problem with that preceptor or the new grad. I know we exhaust every possibility before telling a new grad they are not a right fit for us.

Not every person is meant for every floor. And sometimes the new grad’s learning style does not match up the preceptor’s teaching style. We always try to match people up, but it’s impossible to truly tell until orientation begins.