Abstract
The purpose of this study was two-fold, namely: 1) to obtain clarity on the meaning of the term preceptor, and 2) to establish how the term preceptor is interpreted in the nursing colleges of the RSA and to ascertain whether this interpretation is consistent with the general connotation of the term in contemporary nursing literature. Dictionaries and relevant contemporary nursing literature formed the unit of analysis for obtaining clarity on the meaning of the term preceptor, while the unit of analysis for the second section of the study comprised responses of nursing college principals to a questionnaire. The data obtained in the investigation indicate that the term has acquired a specific connotation within the international nursing context and that specific defined attributes distinguishes it from the broad and general definition found in standard dictionaries. Within the South African nursing context the term preceptor has not yet acquired a specific connotation, but appears to mean different things to different people.
Highlights
The m ajor focus of this study is centered on the task of clarifying the term preceptor as used within the nursing context
Since 1975 the Unisa nursing lecturers used it to refer to the group of experienced registered nurses in the health services who assisted with the supervision of a proportion of Unisa nursing students practica in the clinical field
OF THE STUDY The purpose of the study was two-fold, namely 1) to obtain clarity on the meaninj ^ of the term preceptor and 2) to establish how the term preceptor is interpreted in the Nursing Colleges of the RSA and to ascertain whether this interpretation is consistent with the general connotation of the term in contem porary nursing literature
Summary
The m ajor focus of this study is centered on the task of clarifying the term preceptor as used within the nursing context. Until quite recently this term was not common in the vocabulary of South African nurses. Since 1975 the Unisa nursing lecturers used it to refer to the group of experienced registered nurses in the health services who assisted with the supervision of a proportion of Unisa nursing students practica in the clinical field. O ther than the above the term preceptor was seldom used within the nursing context in this country. In international nursing literature reference was made to preceptors with increasing frequency from the late 1970s onwards
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