Preceptorship of nurses in the community

Abstract

There is recognition that newly qualified nurses find it difficult to make the transition to registered nurse practice. The transition may be especially challenging in the community, where nurses practise in a variety of settings, including the patients’ homes. Preceptorship programmes in the first year of registered nurse work have been recommended by the Department of Health, but the term preceptorship is poorly defined and often confused with other roles. Greater clarity regarding preceptorship as a role and how a programme of learning in the first year of qualified nurse work might be conceived are required. This article suggests four areas of learning that might form the focus of a preceptorship programme: orientation to the patients and services provided locally, real-time clinical reasoning, skill review, and socialisation into the community care team. When these underpin the nurse’s first year goal setting, enquiry planning and shared review of reflections in practice, a working programme can be agreed.