Effect of a preceptor education workshop: part 2. Qualitative results of a hospital-wide study

Abstract

Background: This study examined the hospital-wide effect of a mandatory 8-hour nurse preceptor workshop on preceptors and orientees.

Methods: A mixed-methods approach was used. The quantitative surveys were augmented with qualitative short-answer questions (QUAN + qual) to identify the perceptions of preceptorship experiences for both preceptors and orientees.

Results: Findings from the narrative portions of the survey are presented. Orientees were able to distinguish between poor and excellent quality in precepting, were concerned that orientation was not tailored to the needs of experienced nurses, and described three to four preceptors as being the ideal number to be assigned to an orientee. Preceptors postintervention described "being more open" to the orientee's view, "slowing down," and increasing the promotion of critical thinking strategies.

Conclusion: According to the quantitative results, orientees postintervention did not report increased satisfaction with preceptors. Qualitative findings suggested that this was likely related to a high number of preceptors, heavy patient loads, and lack of tailoring of orientation to the needs of experienced nurses. The quantitative results showed that preceptors postintervention reported increased satisfaction and confidence for precepting in all five preceptor roles assessed quantitatively; qualitative findings further supported these findings. However, narrative findings indicated that a primary barrier to positive changes in a preceptor's practice was a heavy patient load while precepting.