title: Preceptor development programs: an interpretive approach.
abstract: The behavioral model commonly used in preceptor educational programs is inadequate for conveying the complexity of precepting. An interpretive approach is offered as an alternative for preceptor education. Using an interpretive approach is one way to extend our understanding of precepting as an educational process. A preceptor education program is described along with examples of narratives from preceptors. Interpretations of each narrative provide nurse educators with a model for utilizing narratives with preceptors. Themes of teaching, nursing as precepting, and timing are explored. Restoring the narrative to the nursing practice of precepting promises to recapture the richness and complexity of precepting.
authors.affiliation: Nursing Service for Research, Gainesville VA Medical Center, Florida.
authors.forename: M R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Rittman
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002983:Clinical Competence; D006808:Humanism; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D016294:Models, Nursing; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000523:psychology* / Q000592:standards; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011209:Power, Psychological; D011231:Preceptorship / Q000592:standards*; D016730:Program Development / Q000592:standards*; D012944:Social Support; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*