Developing nurse preceptor competency domain guide tool: A Delphi study

Background and objective: One of the strategies used to prepare novice nurses for their professional journeys in clinical practice is by implementing the preceptorship teaching and learning model. Competencies such as knowledge, experience, abilities, and attributes need to be measured to ensure the desired outcomes of the preceptorship are achieved and consistent. This study aimed to develop a nurse preceptor competency domain guide tool at a tertiary hospital in Oman.Methods: Three-round Delphi iterative design with experts was used to develop the nurse preceptor competency domain guide tool. Following standard measures, eight expert opinions were combined until a group consensus was achieved. The level of consensus within the expert panel was defined as ≥ 75% scoring of items were selected as an essential required competency/item.Results: Eight experts from a main tertiary hospital were included in the panel. Five core competency domains and five subdomains were identified and considered to be relevant for nurse preceptors at the hospital with consensus levels varying from 75% to 100%. A total of 83 descriptive items were identified for the competency guide tool.Conclusions: This study found that the main core competency domains of the tool that nurse preceptors should acquire to be competent preceptors are inter-professional communication skills, appropriate teaching strategies, time management skills, building a learning atmosphere, and coaching critical thinking. This tool would improve nurse preceptors’ performance and equip them with the required prerequisite competencies to professionally start their journey in clinical practices. Follow-up research on tool implementation is highly recommended to evaluate its effectiveness.

Nurse Preceptor Experience in Preceptorship Program: A Systematic Literature Review of Qualitative Studies

This systematic literature review describes the experiences of the nurse preceptor in the preceptorship program in health care services. Data was collected from three databases: EBSCO, ScienceDirect, and Scopus. Qualitative, peer-reviewed, original studies published in English from 2013 until 2017 and exploring preceptor experiences of the preceptorship program were involved. The manuscripts were selected by screening titles, abstracts and full papers and the quality of the studies was measured. Data were analysed using content analysis.Ten studies were chosen for the review. Nurse preceptor experiences were divided into four main categories: experiences related to the preparation; experiences related to the preceptee; experiences preceptor role during the program; and experiences related to work environment. The findings establish that the nurse preceptor has a great impact to determine the quality of nursing services to the new graduate nurses, but many challenges face during the program.