Preceptorship
In recognition of the transition shock experienced
by newly qualified nurses, healthcare organisations
provide programmes of support for new staff
members. For example, preceptorship programmes
and online learning have been designed to assist new
practitioners with the transition to registered
practitioner (National Nursing Research Unit
(NNRU) 2009, Jamieson et al 2012). The term
preceptorship in the UK is associated with providing
support for newly qualified nurses and other
healthcare practitioners, whereas outside the UK,
especially in North America, preceptorship is often
associated with support given to nursing students.
Preceptorship is defined by the Nursing and
Midwifery Council (NMC) (2006) as a process
that provides support and guidance, enabling new
registrants to make the transition from student
to accountable practitioner. The NMC (2006)
recommends that all new registrants be offered a
period of preceptorship when starting employment.
This is also recommended by the Department of
Health (DH) (2010) in England, and the Welsh
Assembly Government (2009), which advocates
that nurses in Wales ‘be afforded protected
learning time in their first year of practice and
the support of a preceptor’. However, a review of
preceptorship undertaken by the NNRU (2009)
concluded that preceptorship programmes were
not universally available. Furthermore, periods
of preceptorship ranged from one month to more
than six months, and satisfaction was greater
with preceptorship of four months or longer than
with shorter periods. The review also concluded
that few robust studies focusing on preceptorship
existed in the UK or elsewhere.