What Precepting Means to Me

What qualities should a good preceptor have? Not all RNs make successful or appropriate preceptors. The preceptor should be a good example, good communicator, caring, professional, and competent. Nurses Announcements Archive Article

What Precepting Means to Me

I was asked to be a preceptor by my manager and at first I was unsure of whether to take on such a responsibility. Did I have the skill? Was I proficient enough? Did I have the patience to do this job? Could I be successful in this new task?

Preceptor Qualities

  • A preceptor is an exemplary person who can teach but also sit back and review new grads as they progress through training. A preceptor will always be available whenever needed.
  • Preceptors should follow and adhere to a learning contract to insure that the preceptee has successfully learned all of the tasks.
  • Preceptors also must meet a certain criteria to be allowed to precept other nurses. They should attend inservices and be knowledgeable about personality types and the different phases of reality shock for the new nurse.
  • The preceptor should feel a strong sense of accomplishment and pride whenever the preceptee graduates.

I did a lot of soul searching and decided that I would accept the challenge.

I became a preceptor and jumped in with both feet because I wanted to be the best preceptor possible. I wanted to be a preceptor that any new grad would want to have and to be very different from what I received as a preceptee. I knew that to be a brand new grad on a med-surg floor could be an extremely scary thing and my first task was to have my preceptee trust me. I knew trust was key in a successful relationship.

I began by developing an open and honest communication style with my preceptee. I stressed that she could come to me with anything and that "no question was stupid". I also was not afraid to praise her when she did well and to never criticize her in front of others. I also emphasized that I was always there to help her out if or when she needed it.

My preceptee soon blossomed into an eager, caring nurse and she was enjoying her days as a med-surg nurse. She started out with one patient and soon was able to handle two and then three. I could see her growing into the confident nurse that she would be.

She began to develop her critical thinking skills and to learn to listen to her intuition and know what " the hair standing up on the back of her neck', was telling her. She soon was drawing blood like a pro and began starting IVs with ease. She was rapidly progressing from novice to beginner.

I watched her as her confidence grew in her interactions with doctors and residents. She soon felt confident enough to make suggestions about patient care. She also started to question medications and procedures and if they were appropriate for the patient. She also took on more and more difficult assignments because " she wanted the challenge".

The weeks went on and she continued to grow and become more confident everyday. Soon she was handling the entire assignment of six patients on her own. She had also learned to delegate appropriately and to prioritize her care. She also was eager to take a new admission when they came to the floor and to even help if she was caught up.

It was soon ten weeks into the program and soon she would be on her own. I wanted to be sure that she was ready. We reviewed all of her documents, we discussed -"what if" scenarios. We had practice codes and practice METS, we had skill tests and talked about medications and interactions. We had covered it all. And now my preceptee was ready to go on her own.

I had watched this young nurse as she went through all of the phases of reality shock during her orientation from the honeymoon phase through resolution and she was soon going to experience it all over again as a new nurse.

I watched her as she began her first day on her own. She was a bit scared as she started out but soon a resident came to the desk and asked- " who is the nurse for 456 bed a"? She stood and said " that would be me, how can I help you?

I knew she was going to be fine, she was spreading her wings and flying solo and I was proud of her and also thankful to have such a noble opportunity.

2 Votes
nurse grace RN

About nurse grace RN, BSN

RN experience in med/surg, TELE, CM

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Specializes in Cardiac.

You were an excellent preceptor. You provided a great experience for your student! Many thanks :thankya:

Luckily, I had a wonderful preceptor in my last semester (recent ADN grad!) and wished the time I had with her didn't have to end so soon. She somehow knew exactly what I was doing, even when I was alone with the patient :). Each week, she would go over all the patients I was assigned to in the ER, how many IV's, blood draws, NG's, etc. and say, "See, look at all you were able to do!" It really helped my confidence level go up. She even came to the pinning ceremony and gave me a beautiful little angel necklace.

It was the first year our college offered a preceptor program. It went so well that my preceptor and I have been asked to speak at a conference about our experience.

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Nurse Grace,

I want to congratulate you on providing an excellent preceptor-ship to your new colleague. As you alluded to in your post, many nurses are not suited for precepting new employees and especially new graduates. Many nurses confuse “orienting” someone to the unit with “precepting”. Orienting a new or visiting staff member only provides them the basic’s – an overview of the unit and a review of the most used policies and procedures. While precepting builds on the basic orientation by developing critical thought, providing controlled yet increasingly challenging situations to enhance their growth and finally someone they can trust as they start making those “first steps” on their own.

I have been holding different nursing leadership jobs for the past 14 years. Most of those years have come while serving in the U.S. Army. One of the biggest differences I have seen when comparing civilian to military nursing is in the category of professional growth. While I was working as a civilian, professional growth was usually performed by on the job training and by completing advanced learning on your own time and dollar. In the military, we have many opportunities for professional growth. We have programmed leadership courses that provide us with new theories and techniques as we advance through our careers. We also have the ability for fully funded master’s and PhD programs to educate us in our desired area of clinical expertise. Now I understand that it is very hard for hospitals to be able to fiscally stomach the dollars required to provide a staff member time off from a demanding clinical unit and still provide them with the financial resources to complete advanced education. In fact, for many facilities, this is probably impossible. However, there is one final piece of professional growth that we perform in the U.S. Army that could be easily adaptable to your unit and correlates well with your excellent preceptor-ship you recently provided.

We practice informal mentorship. The Army defines “Mentoring” as “—a leader with greater experience than the one receiving the mentoring, provides guidance and advice; it is a future-oriented developmental activity focused on growing in the Profession” (Army Field Manual -- FM 6-22). As a clinical Soldier, we develop this Army definition into the next phase of our preceptor-ship. Let me better illustrate this by providing a quick story. Several years ago I was coming out of Registered Nurse-First Assistant (RNFA) training and was provided a good preceptor-ship. However, I still was not as proficient as the more experienced RNFA’s in the operating room. I noticed an RNFA that always seemed well prepared and so I went up to him after work and asked if he would help me develop my skills. Over the next several months this individual gave me great research articles to read for a better understanding on my job and I was always able to call him to ask those “what if” questions or to bounce new ideas off of someone I trusted. Over the years we have both continued to advance and through our careers. Many of the times we are not even stationed in the same state or continent but this has not stopped me retaining him as a mentor. As you can see mentoring someone is very similar to precepting a new employee/graduate. It is not only the new employee that needs to be challenged to develop professionally, we all need to. As I have moved from location to location over the years I have witnessed the positive results of a unit with active mentorship. They have been more clinically versed and perform with tighter unit cohesion which ultimately resulted in better patient experiences and outcomes (our most important goal).

1 Votes
Specializes in Hospice Care, Med/Surg.

You are AWESOME! I wish we all could have a preceptor just like you! Congrats to you and keep up the good work! :yeah:

1 Votes
Specializes in Cardiac.

Being a preceptor can be a challenging job, and you've done a great job by adapting such a positive attitude! I find it sometimes difficult to walk that line between being there for the new nurse and "hovering" too much/too little. I like to let the new nurses learn from their own mistakes, as I think tripping over your own feet is a good way to remind yourself to watch where you're walking. (yet at the same time I want them to feel supported for sure)

It sounds like you've developed a nice routine for training a new nurse and I applaud you for stepping up to the challenge and being a positive role model and mentor to new nurses!

1 Votes