Creating a climate for critical thinking in the preceptorship experience

The impact of the learning climate on students' ability to think critically during preceptorship cannot be underestimated. The success of students in learning to think critically rests largely with the tone set by preceptors and staff (Myrick 1998). Students must be led gently into the active role of discussing, dialoguing, and problem solving (Meyers 1986). They watch very carefully how respectfully preceptors and staff field their comments, quickly notice nonverbal cues that indicate how open, approachable and supportive the preceptors and the staff are to their questions and contributions, and then discern how valued they are as colleagues. When preceptors genuinely value, support, and work with students in the practice setting and staff accept them as part of the team, a climate that is conducive to learning and critical thinking is established. This is due to the fact that students feel safe enough to question, to challenge and be challenged, and to be creative in their problem solving. The purpose of this paper is threefold: a) to identify key factors in the preceptorship experience that contribute to the creation of a climate that is conductive to critical thinking; b) to provide important insights into the role of the preceptor and the staff within that context; and c) to discuss how nursing faculty can more actively contribute to ensuring that such a learning climate is achieved in the preceptorship experience.