Evaluating the effects of a nurse preceptorship programme

Nurse preceptorship programmes have evolved as a means to ease the turmoil of transition from student nurse to staff nurse. In this era of economic retrenchment, it is possible that such programmes might be eliminated. Conversely, it is also possible that preceptorship programmes represent an important mechanism for recruitment and retention; issues that also pervade the contemporary health care arena. This study was conducted, therefore, to evaluate the transition process of new graduates who participated in a preceptorship programme. While the objective measures used in this investigation did not support the common belief that the transition from student nurse to staff nurse is an emotion-laden experience, the preceptees did verbalize feelings of psychosocial discomfort. Several explanations are proposed to account for these findings, including that the effectiveness of the programme may have sustained the more positive affective states. The authors conclude that preceptorship programmes remain important and necessary interventions to facilitate integrating and enacting the professional nurse role.