An innovative approach to orientation: faculty preceptors

The Faculty Summer Preceptor Program was instituted in the summer of 1987 to assist with the orientation of more than 200 newly employed graduate nurses at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. Plans had to be made to assist the staff in assimilating this large number of orientees without disrupting patient care delivery. Preceptorships were used extensively in nursing services during the past 10 years. A major advantage of using faculty is that they are very familiar with new graduates' skills, anxieties, and needs, and the faculty role closely corresponds with the role of the preceptor. The faculty is a "ready made" resource for nursing staff orientation.