Preceptor development programs: an interpretive approach

The behavioral model commonly used in preceptor educational programs is inadequate for conveying the complexity of precepting. An interpretive approach is offered as an alternative for preceptor education. Using an interpretive approach is one way to extend our understanding of precepting as an educational process. A preceptor education program is described along with examples of narratives from preceptors. Interpretations of each narrative provide nurse educators with a model for utilizing narratives with preceptors. Themes of teaching, nursing as precepting, and timing are explored. Restoring the narrative to the nursing practice of precepting promises to recapture the richness and complexity of precepting.