TOPIC: IN SUPPORT OF THE CREATION, IMPLEMENTATION, AND EVALUATION OF TRAINING AND INCENTIVE PROGRAMS TO ADDRESS THE SHORTAGE OF STUDENT NURSE PRECEPTORS AND INCREASE THEIR ENGAGEMENT
SUBMITTED BY: THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT TYLER SCHOOL OF NURSING, LONGVIEW UNIVERSITY CENTER
AUTHORS: Blake Williams, Hillary Hill, Joey Griffith, Jessica Diffey, Ryan Hagan, Laci Fulton, and Kelly Moore
WHEREAS, “A preceptor is an instructor or mentor to professional students in a practice-based educational environment that emphasizes exposure to real world applications and achievement of professional goals” (Taylor, Hasseberg, & Knehans, 2010, p. 287); and
WHEREAS, In 2014, the National Student Nurses Association (NSNA) adopted a resolution in support of nursing preceptor education to improve the learning outcomes of nursing students in the clinical setting. In addition to greater student learning outcomes, it has been identified that “lack of support from administrators, nursing faculty, and coworkers makes it difficult to meet the goals of the preceptorship experience. Program leaders often express concern about the risk of burnout if preceptors’ efforts are not properly rewarded” (Dibert & Goldenberg, 1995, pp. 1144-1151); and
WHEREAS, Those who view the benefits and rewards associated with preceptorship positively demonstrate the most commitment. Moreover, they maintain that preceptors with more teaching experience are more committed to the preceptorship role (Dibert & Goldenberg, 1995, pp. 1144-1151); and
WHEREAS, “Supports and rewards are associated with preceptor development. Preceptor development programs are recommend for addressing a variety of problems within the preceptor-student relationship” (Clay, Lilley, Borre, & Harris, 1999); and
WHEREAS, “A limitation of the [preceptor] model is that preceptors may lack expertise in teaching and evaluation, causing role stress for staff nurses and lack of guidance for students” (Budgen & Gamroth, 2008, p. 277). Budgen & Gamroth further state “The main challenge to the [preceptor] model is that clinicians with heavy workloads have limited time to meet patient care standards and also preceptor students” (p. 277); and
WHEREAS, “In a cyclical mire, schools of nursing are being challenged to provide rich clinical experiences for enrolled students at a time when shortages have led to a decrease in nursing clinical faculty as well as steep competition for clinical placement sites and qualified site preceptors” (Burns & Northcutt, 2009, p. 509); and
WHEREAS, Research has supported that the personal perspective of the preceptor’s experiences needs to be investigated in regards to feedback and notions of
benefits, especially when preceptors seem to encounter stress with a student added to their heavy workload (Carlson, Pilhammar, &Wann-Hansson, 2010); and WHEREAS, “The role of [nurse] preceptors includes supervising, teaching, and evaluating
students, they have a variety of responsibilities that range from orienting the student to the clinical facility in which he/she will train to monitoring his/her progress in achieving educational objectives” (Taylor, et al., p. 287); and
WHEREAS, [It is apparent that] in nursing programs there is the need to provide students with clinical practice; the greatest challenge of healthcare facilities and universities is the recruitment and retention of qualified preceptors. If we are to retain
preceptors, we need to ensure they have a satisfying experience by rewarding them appropriately (DeWolfe, Laschinger, & Perkin, 2010); and
WHEREAS, “Despite the recognized value of those involved in preceptorship, little progress has been made regarding the development of an infrastructure that adequately supports their ongoing professional development. Over the years, this lack of structure has become abundantly clear as preceptors, students, and faculty alike continue to request support for their specific roles and responsibilities” (Myrick, Caplan, Smitten, & Rusk, 2011, p. 263); and
WHEREAS, “Collaboration between universities and [clinical facilities providing] clinical placements has repeatedly been highlighted as a weak point of the nursing education. Lack of communication and agreement between nursing parties involved in the students’ learning is a serious problem” (Hall-Lord, Theander & Athlin, 2013, p. 506); and
WHEREAS, The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) survey found that “75,587 qualified applications were not accepted at schools of nursing [in 2011]; due to a shortage of faculty . . . insufficient clinical teaching spots . . . and insufficient preceptors” (AACN, 2013, para. 17); and
WHEREAS, “Preceptors want their managers to support them in attending preceptors education workshops. Preceptors also request more preceptorship training opportunities” (Kalischuk, Vandenberg, & Awosoga, 2013); therefore be it RESOLVED, that the Texas Nursing Students’ Association (TNSA) support increased
awareness in the shortage of preceptors for the student nurse and the initiation of an incentive program and awards for properly prepared registered nurses that would be considered appropriate according to the individual health care and education facilities, which will aim to interest, motivate, foster in, and retain potential student nurse preceptors; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the TNSA and the Texas Nurses Association (TNA) support the development of standardized student nurse preceptor development programs that are easily
accessible using web based learning to address a variety of problems using
principles of adult education topics such as evaluating students, providing positive and negative feedback, dealing with conflict, and dealing with student failure (Kalischuk,et al., 2013, p.31); and be it further
RESOLVED, that the TNSA request that the TNA, Texas Association of Deans and Directors of Professional Nursing Programs, The American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE), Texas Organization of Nurse Executives (TONE), and the Texas Hospital Association support and encourage state wide educational and healthcare facilities to adopt this resolution with the intention to help increase the number of available qualified preceptors for nursing students, and make available
interprofessional educational opportunities which will, in turn, increase the learning experience of student nurses and better prepare them to transition to a graduate nurse position; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the TNSA send a copy of this resolution to the Texas Nurses Association (TNA), National Student Nurses Association (NSNA), Texas Association of Deans and Directors of Professional Nursing Programs, Texas Hospital Association, Texas Board of Nursing, American Nurses Association, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the American Hospital Association, the American Organization of Nurse Executives, the National League for Nursing, the National Organization for Associate Degree Nursing, the Association for Nursing Professional Development, The Joint Commission, the Nursing Organizations Alliance, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing
(NCSBN), and any others, and all others deemed appropriate by the TNSA Board of Directors; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the TNSA task the TNA, AONE/TONE, American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), National League for Nursing (NLN), and Texas Board of Nursing with surveying educational institutions and clinical facilities that provide preceptors related to the effectiveness of student nurse preceptor programs; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the TNSA task the TNA, AONE/TONE, and Texas Board of Nursing with surveying clinical facilities in Texas as to current incentives that are provided to student nurse preceptors.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2012). New AACN data show an enrollment surge in baccalaureate and graduate programs amid calls for more highly educated nurses. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/news/articles/2012/enrollment-data
Budgen, C., & Gamroth, L. (2008). An overview of practice education models. Nurse Education Today,
28,273-283. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2007.05.005
Burns, H. K., & Northcutt, T. (2009). Supporting preceptors: A three-pronged approach for success. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 40(11), 509-513. doi:10.3928/00220124-20091023-08
Carlson, E., Pilhammar, E., & Wann-Hansson, C. (2010). Time to precept: Supportive and limiting conditions for precepting nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 66(2), 432-441.
doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05174.x
Clay, M. C., Lilley, S. H., Borre, K., & Harris, J. R. (1999). Applying adult education principles to the design of a preceptor program. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 13, 405-413. Retrieved from
EBSCOhost database.
DeWolfe, J. A., Laschinger, S., & Perkin, C. (2010). Preceptors' perspectives on recruitment, support, and retention of preceptors. Journal of Nursing Education, 49(4), 198-206.
doi:10.3928/01484834-200091217-06
Dibert, C., & Goldenberg, D. (1995). Preceptors’ perceptions of benefits, rewards, supports and commitment to the preceptor role. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 21(6), 1144-1151. Retrieved from EBSCOhost database.
Hall-Lord, M. L., Theander, K., & Athlin, E. (2013). A clinical supervision model in bachelor nursing education -- Purpose, content and evaluation. Nurse Education in Practice, 13(6), 506-511. doi:10.1016/j.nepr.2013.02.006
Kalischuk R.G.,Vandenberg H., &Awosoga O. (2013). Nursing preceptors speak out: An empirical study. Journal of Professional Nursing, 29(1), 30-38. doi:10.1016/j.profnurs.2012.04.008
Myrick, F., Caplan, W., Smitten, J., & Rusk, K. (2011). Preceptor/mentor education: A world of
possibilities through e-learning technology. Nurse Education Today, 31(Selected papers from the 3rd International Nurse Education Conference Nursing education in a global community 11-14
April 2010, Sydney, Australia), 263-267. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2010.10.026
Taylor, E., Hasseberg, C., Anderson, M., & Knehans, A. (2010). Dietetic preceptor educational needs from the preceptor, student, and faculty perspectives. Journal of Allied Health, 39(4), 287-92. Retrieved from EBSCOhost database.
Texas Nursing Students’ Association (2014). In support of nursing preceptor education to improve the learning outcomes of nursing students in the clinical setting.Adopted by National Student Nurses’ Association 2014 Resolutions. p.89 Retrieved from
Cost Estimate
Document size: 6 pages
Photocopy costs: $0.10/page x 6 pages=$0.60/copy x 14 mailings= $8.40 Postage costs: $0.49/mailing x 14 mailings= $6.86
Envelopes: $0.05/ envelope x 14 mailings= $0.70 Total Cost: $13.16
Addresses:
American Association of Colleges of Nursing One DuPont Circle, NW, Suite 530
Washington, D.C. 20036
American Hospital Association One North Franklin
Chicago, IL 60606-3421
American Nurses Association 8515 Georgia Ave, Suite 400
Silver Springs, MD 20910-3492
American Organization of Nurse Executives Liberty Place
325 Seventh St, NW
Washington, D.C. 20004
National Council of State Boards of Nursing 111 East Wacker Drive, Suite 2900
Chicago, IL 60601-4277
National League for Nursing 61 Broadway, 33rd floor
New York, NY 10006
Association for Nursing Professional Development 401 N. Michigan Ave, Suite 2200
Chicago, IL 60611
National Student Nurses’ Association 45 Main Street, Suite 606.
Brooklyn, New York 11201
National Organization for Associate Degree Nursing 7794 Grow Drive
Pensacola, FL 32514
Nursing Organization Alliance 201 East Main Street, Suite 1405
Lexington, KY 40507
Texas Board of Nursing 333 Guadalupe #3-460
Austin, TX 78701
Texas Association of Deans and Directors of Professional Nursing Programs
No address
Texas Hospital Association PO Box 679010
Austin, TX 78767-9010
Texas Nurses Association 7600 Burnet Road, Suite 440
Austin, TX 78757
The Joint Commission One Renaissance Blvd.
