Abstract
AimThe recruitment and retention of preceptors to mentor health professional students and apprentices in their clinical studies are not easy. The aim of this study was to investigate factors that hindered the implementation of an intervention intended to improve the working conditions for preceptors in nursing homes. The preceptorship was related to clinical studies for health professional students and apprentices.DesignA qualitative, explorative design was applied.MethodsQualitative data were collected in September 2014 by means of focus groups with preceptors and key informant interviews. The data were prepared by thematic analysis and interpreted in the light of institutional theory.ResultsThe intervention to improve the working conditions for preceptors was hampered by institutional traits involving rule‐like perceptions of “want to,” “ought to” and “have to.” Precepting was preserved as an individual task of the preceptors and was not considered a daily activity in nursing homes.ConclusionsTo improve the working conditions for preceptors in nursing homes and thus improve recruitment and retention among preceptors, the nursing home leaders should address institutional traits related to preceptorship.
Highlights
Clinical studies in healthcare settings represent 50% of the ac‐ ademic credits in the education of a Registered Nurse (RN) in Europe (Lahtinen, Leino‐Kilpi, & Salminen, 2014)
To improve preceptors’ working conditions and the students’ learning outcomes in nursing homes (NHs), we developed a pilot project including an intervention framed “interprofessional preceptor‐team.”
The institutional traits, including the per‐ ceptions held by preceptors, leaders and colleagues of the rule‐like understanding of the “want to,” “ought to” and “have to,” preserved precepting as apart from normal activities in the NH
Summary
Clinical studies in healthcare settings represent 50% of the ac‐ ademic credits in the education of a Registered Nurse (RN) in Europe (Lahtinen, Leino‐Kilpi, & Salminen, 2014). The mentee and the mentor voluntary se‐ lect each other, the mentee because of the mentors’ competen‐ cies and experiences within a certain domain of knowledge and the mentor because of an interest in guiding the actual mentee in his learning trajectory, independent of specific clinical work‐ places (Yonge et al, 2007). This relation is more personal and less framed of formalities than the preceptor–preceptee re‐ lation is. Research related to placement and precepting for associate nurses is scarce
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