Preceptorship in a Nurse Practitioner Program: The Student Perspective

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Professional Development
• Clinical Preceptorship

Background:

• Preceptorship is recognized as a vital strategy for clinical learning in healthcare.
• While benefits are documented, the preceptorship model presents challenges.
• Limited research exists on preceptorship evaluations specifically for nurse practitioner (NP) students.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the preceptorship experience for nurse practitioner (NP) students.
• To identify facilitators that enhance NP student clinical learning.
• To identify barriers that impede NP student clinical learning.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative evaluation of NP student preceptorship experiences.
• Exploration of student perspectives on clinical learning.
• Analysis of reported facilitators and barriers.

Main Results:

• Preceptorship offers significant benefits for NP student clinical learning.
• Specific factors were identified as facilitators to effective learning.
• Several barriers were reported that hindered the NP student preceptorship experience.

Conclusions:

• Understanding NP student preceptorship challenges is crucial for optimizing clinical education.
• Addressing identified facilitators and barriers can improve the quality of NP training.
• Further research should focus on refining preceptorship models for NP students.