Importance Of Preceptor Roles For Student Nurses

1265 Words3 Pages

Preceptor roles are vitally important in the orientation and support for student nurses in the professional nursing setting. The importance of preceptors is that the preceptors help student nurses learn skills, policies and procedures, know protocols, and learn the nursing practice, and become familiar with cultural diversity. The role and effective characteristics of a preceptor is to motivate and lead student nurses in bedside manner, confidence and positivity, and becoming familiar with a healthcare setting. The goal of a preceptor program is to give orientation that helps focus on a preceptor’s performance and ability to teach the student nurse with the organization’s culture, procedures, policies, and protocols. “A successful orientation …show more content…

The character of a preceptor is just as important as knowing the role of a preceptor. Character can change learning and teaching styles and create or destroy a learning environment. Characteristics of a preceptor include nurturing student nurses, honesty, leadership, sensitivity, open communication, and being understanding (Henderson et al. 2006). Preceptors are nurses who have passion for nursing and the patients being taken care of and want other nurses to feel and gain that same passion. Preceptors, who are looked to as mentors and role models, need to be extremely supportive because student nurses can be intimidated and quickly realize that what was taught in the classroom is completely different in real time. Preceptors should be evaluated of the teaching given and be willing to change in accordance of how different student nurses learn. A preceptor’s commitment to the program and to the student nurses is critical in having a success program and preceptor/student nurse experience (Robitaille, …show more content…

A preceptor’s role is to set the foundation of a student nurse’s nursing career that leads to an expert nursing level (Benner, 2013). Preceptor programs have been developed to help nursing shortages and help alleviate the difficulties of a newly hired nurse. A proper learning environment for both the preceptor and student nurse needs to include supportive staff members and supervisors, patience and motivation, and passion from the preceptor. A preceptor role takes encouragement and determination. Preceptors play a strong role in mentoring student nurses; it improves job satisfaction and job retention. Preceptor programs deserve the greatest attention and hard work, as it is the foundation of the future of

Open Document