Postgraduate students' perceptions of high-quality precepting in critical care nursing

Education of critical care nurses in Norway consists of equal parts clinical practice and theoretical education. The purpose of this study was to investigate postgraduate students' perceptions of the one-on-one, bedside precepting they received during their critical care education. Two focus group interviews with students at a Norwegian university college were conducted, and a thematic cross-case analysis was done. The interviewees characterized high-quality precepting as precepting where proper precepting strategies are applied, right priorities in precepting are made, the preceptor possesses desirable qualities, and there is a good preceptor-student relationship. High-quality precepting of postgraduate critical care nursing students should reflect the complexity of the profession, emphasizing both practical and theoretical knowledge. Strategies resembling both the master-apprentice model and the reflective counselling model should be applied. Postgraduate students' characterizations of high-quality precepting should be taken into consideration when preparing critical care nurses to undertake precepting within clinical education. Attention should be paid to the difference between undergraduate students and postgraduate students educating for a speciality.