Preceptorship in psychiatric nursing: an impact evaluation from an Australian perspective

The importance of preceptorship in ensuring positive clinical experiences for undergraduates has been widely acknowledged in the literature. This is particularly the case for mental health nursing due to the negative attitudes nursing students tend to hold towards this area of practice. The Centre for Psychiatric Nursing Research and Practice (CPNRP), introduced a subject: Preceptorship in Psychiatric Nursing, to facilitate the ability of clinicians to undertake the preceptorship role confidently and competently. This paper presents the findings from an evaluation of the impact of this subject on positive changes to practice in relation to preceptorship within the workplace setting. Participants from both the on-campus subject (n=23) and a workshop conducted in rural Victoria (n=5) took part in this qualitative study. The findings suggest that the subject has had a positive impact on the practice of preceptorship within the workplace. The impact at an organisational level was found to be higher amongst the rural participants. This is assumed to be a result of the fact that the rural participants were employed within the one service and used the workshop as an opportunity to address organisational issues.