The purpose of the experience is to provide the nurse practitioner student with an opportunity to participate in:

• health assessment of patients
• counseling and guidance in accordance with identified needs
• management of the care of patients in consultation with the preceptor.

The student is expected to consult with the preceptor regarding each patient seen and to record the visits in the format appropriate to the clinic’s standards. At all times, the student functions under the supervision of the preceptor.

Preceptors also:

• Agree to accept responsibility for a nurse practitioner student for a specified time.
• Generally, develop a learning environment for the student that includes:
  • Sufficient exam rooms so the student may function at a novice pace.
  • Opportunities to do histories and physical exams, make a tentative assessment, present orally to you, propose appropriate diagnoses and therapeutic plans, and write up the encounter as part of the permanent chart/record.
  • Follow-up with the patient by the preceptor who will critique the proposed assessment and care plan.
  • Opportunity for the student to observe or participate in managing patients within their scope of practice who present with a problem of general educational interest.
  • Guidance in performing clinical procedures that are consistent with the student’s learning objectives while under the supervision of the preceptor.
  • If deemed necessary by the preceptor or faculty, a brief meeting at your clinic with the academic faculty/instructor overseeing the student’s work.
• Help clinic staff understand that the nurse practitioner student will function as a health care provider.
• Provide feedback to the faculty on the student(s).

Many certification agencies allow for preceptorship hours to be counted towards the renewal of a certification.

Each agency carries their own set of categories or guidelines. Please contact your certification agency for more details.

Well… let’s ask our preceptors

As nurses, we are taught from the earliest days of nursing school to listen to our patients. As nurse practitioner educators, we know the value of listening to those nurse practitioners in the trenches who are precepting our students. Your feedback is valuable in order to learn not only more about our students, but also about our program.

At two recent nurse practitioner group meetings, faculty members asked some attendees to answer the following questions:

• For those who have precepted a student, write down one positive and one not-so-positive experience.
• For those who have never precepted, write at least one challenge to precepting a student.
• If you are an experienced preceptor, please share a clinical education pearl that has helped you along the way.

The following are some of what we learned.

Positive Preceptor benefits:

• “Makes me think about why we do what we do.”
• “I enjoyed giving back to students and teaching is a great way to improve my knowledge base.”
• “Keeps me honest to evidence-based practice”
• “Promoting the profession”
• “Get me out of my comfort zone”
• “Different perspective – noticed things I didn’t before”

Preceptors, like most nurses, are driven by their altruistic qualities, and found precepting provide personal rewards:

• “Seeing the student have that ‘ah-ha moment’ when teaching”
• “Watching students become more confident”
• "Giving back to the community”
• “Remembering how hard it is as a student to find a preceptor and being that for them”
• “Feeling of contribution – help another achieve his or her goal”
• “Being a mentor”

Students who are engaged and eager to learn often inspire and challenge the preceptor:

• “Eager to learn, professional, excellent questions”
• “Great initiative to seek different types of patients; enhances learning experience.”
• “Students bring energy to the clinic and enhance clinic atmosphere.”
• “Students inquisitive nature” (positive student quality)
• “My most recent student was excellent and actually helped me/saved me time rather than costing me more time.”

A precepting arrangement can be a month-long job interview...

• (Can provide for observation of) ...“potential new hires”

and can facilitate long term relationships.

• “Student contacted me after being hired in my area.”
• (Facilitates)..“building peer relationships”
• (Precepted as RN) – “a student that I precepted came to work in my unit and did great and was a great coworker!”

One preceptor said it best:

• (The student) ”brought out the best in me.”

All of the anecdotal responses we received were varied, transparent and insightful. The UAB School of Nursing values our preceptors and the work done on behalf of our students. Our preceptors are one of the reasons the UAB School of Nursing is one of the top schools of nursing in the country. We couldn’t do it without you. Thank you for being part of our team. As always, if you have feedback, we would like to hear from you.

Graduate nursing education provides the academic preparation and skills necessary for role development in advanced nursing practice. Students start their inquiry into advanced nursing in didactic courses, followed by a step-wise integration into practice under the dual supervision of community-based preceptors and faculty instructors. The step-wise integration into practice means that students rehearse decision-making and intervention skills in practice-oriented courses, which build upon the knowledge acquired in the classroom. The dual oversight of the preceptor and the faculty instructor will ensure that students achieve the necessary steps of practice and make successful transitions.

We know that you are fully engaged in your own practices, and are balancing all of the clinical and administrative responsibilities for your own patients and staff. We are fully cognizant of how much mentoring a student adds to your workload. Our faculty members are committed to ensuring that the students make a meaningful contribution to your practice while learning. Please connect with our faculty and/or staff directly if there is anything that we might do to improve our collaboration and your ability to help our students succeed. Your contribution is important, meaningful and appreciated.

Preceptor Information Form