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Ask the expert: Nurses as preceptors

HCPro's Weekly Update on the ANCC Magnet Recognition Program®*, June 12, 2007

This week, a reader asks if it's important for nurses to precept others. Read the response below from our advisor Diana Swihart, PhD, DMin, MSN, CS, RN-BC, clinical nurse specialist, nursing education, Bay Pines VA Healthcare System, Bay Pines, FL.

Q: Is it important for nurses to precept others?

A: Preceptors are nurses talking about difficulties they have met, sharing insights they have gained, and passing on lessons they have learned by caring for patients in the many arenas of need they encounter each day. Effective, consistent, thorough preceptorships are a major factor in recruitment and retention of nurses. ANCC Magnet Recognition Program® hospitals support professional nursing practice within the context of teaching and learning environments. They provide consistently high-quality nursing care while accommodating excellent preceptorships.

The need for effective preceptors continues to rise as companies groom and grow talent from within their ranks. Establishing definitive nurse preceptorships to guide nursing students and prepare new nurses for today's demanding professional practice environments is efficient and cost-effective when done well. An effective staff nurse preceptorship program with such preceptors is critical to the success of student nurses, new graduate nurses, and experienced nurses moving among the multiple disciplines and specialty areas of our complex healthcare systems. Nurse preceptorships provide the flexibility for the close, trusting relationships needed to develop the new employee, student nurse, or new graduate nurse to his or her fullest potential.

Editor's note: Do you have a question for one of our advisors? If you'd like us to consider your query for publication, please send it to Cameran Erny.

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