The impact of mentorship, preceptors, and debriefing on the quality of program experiences

With the prevalent problem of nurse retention and the lack of confidence new nurses experience, it is critical for nurse residency programs to have supportive factors that enhance residency experiences. By incorporating mentorship, preceptors, and debriefing components into these programs, skills in communication, organization, clinical reasoning, stress management, and self-confidence increase. This quantitative study was a descriptive analysis of secondary data using a cross-sectional design. Two instruments were used to gather data, the Demographic Information Survey and the Evaluation of the RN Residency Survey. The sample was comprised of 1078 graduate nurses completing nurse residency programs throughout the United States. The findings indicated that higher residency ratings were significantly related to higher preceptor and debriefing experiences. Results also showed no significant interaction effects of reduced stress due to mentoring on the relationship between preceptorship experiences or debriefing experiences and ratings of nurse residency. Consequently, it is important that new nurses are given the opportunity to take part in programs offering mentorship, preceptors, and debriefing elements, as nursing residents have found them to be highly beneficial. Furthermore, debriefing sessions strengthened their skills and built confidence during their first year of employment.