A Comparison of a Traditional Clinical Experience to a Precepted Clinical Experience for Baccalaureate-Seeking Nursing Students in Their Second Semester

Abstract

<jats:p>The shortage of nursing faculty has contributed greatly to the nursing workforce shortage, with many schools turning away qualified applicants because there are not enough faculty to teach. Despite the faculty shortage, schools are required to admit more students to alleviate the nursing shortage. Clinical groups in which preceptors are responsible for student learning extend faculty resources.<jats:italic>Purpose.</jats:italic>To determine the effectiveness of an alternative clinical experience (preceptorship).<jats:italic>Methods.</jats:italic>quasi-experimental, randomized, longitudinal design. Students were randomized to either the traditional or precepted clinical group. The clinical experience was a total of 12 weeks. Groups were compared according to several variables including second semester exam scores, HESI scores, and quality and timeliness of clinical paperwork.<jats:italic>Sample.</jats:italic>Over a two-year period, seventy-one undergraduate nursing students in the second semester medical-surgical nursing course participated. 36 were randomized to the experimental group. The preceptors were baccalaureate-prepared nurses who have been practicing for at least one year.<jats:italic>Setting.</jats:italic>Two hospitals located in the Texas Medical Center.<jats:italic>Statistical Analysis.</jats:italic>Descriptive statistics and independent<jats:italic>t</jats:italic>-test.<jats:italic>Results.</jats:italic>There was no difference between the groups on the variables of interest.<jats:italic>Conclusion.</jats:italic>Students in the precepted clinical group perform as well as those in a traditional clinical group.</jats:p>

Learner : preceptor ratios for practice-based learning across health disciplines: a systematic review

“…Nineteen articles described an arrangement where one preceptor supervised one learner . The majority of these articles came from nursing and physiotherapy.…”

“…Learners frequently did not feel they had sufficient one‐to‐one time with the preceptor in the > 3 : 1 ratio . Another challenge with the > 3 : 1 ratio that was scarcely mentioned with other ratios was learner dissatisfaction with the amount of professional development and clinical learning they experienced …”

“…Preceptors were commonly challenged by increased workload and paperwork associated with having several learners and difficulty in getting to know and assess multiple learners . Another proposed challenge was difficulty finding enough patients and work for each learner, although this came from an article in which no actual data about this were collected.…”

“…Nineteen articles described an arrangement where one preceptor supervised one learner. 9,11,12,17,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] The majority of these articles came from nursing and physiotherapy. Most focused on learners in the senior years (year 3 or 4 of 4) of their training, with experienced professionals in the same discipline as the learner acting as preceptors.…”

Questionnaire to Measure the Participation of Nursing Professionals in Mentoring Students

“…Formation from the university on aspects related to teaching methodology, evidence-based practice, or the educational program and the evaluation tools are well-received by clinical professionals who mentor students and contribute improvement to student learning. (14)(15)(16) In synthesis, adequate mentorship of students by nursing care professionals during clinical practices requires fluent institutional relationships between the university and health services, besides pedagogic, clinical, and academic attributes of the practice mentors, which along with experience, improve the quality of clinical learning (1) and by extension, the formation of future nurses. In the literature reviewed, no tools have been found to measure the level of participation of clinical professionals in mentoring students.…”