title: Preceptoring nursing students: registered nurses' perceptions of nursing students' preparation and study approaches in clinical education.
abstract: Preceptorship influences Registered Nurses' (RNs) daily work to different degrees depending on nursing students' knowledge, and willingness to learn. Consequently, it is of the utmost importance to investigate how RNs assess nursing students in clinical education. The aim of this study was to describe RNs' perceptions of nursing students' preparation and study approaches at hospital workplaces, and to explore relationships between RNs' perceptions and their personal/clinical characteristics. A cross-sectional design was used. In 2006, 142 of 196 RNs at a Swedish hospital answered a questionnaire (response rate 72.5%). The majority of RNs (63-84%) rated students' study approaches highly and thought students comprehended the outcomes of learning. Fewer (45-49%), rated students as having adequate theoretical knowledge highly and were of the opinion that they had acquired knowledge about the unit. Statistically, non specialist nurses rated significantly higher compared with specialist nurses. Significant positive correlations were found between the RNs' perceptions of nursing students and their interest in preceptoring. The extent to which preparation programmes, established in collaboration between a university and a hospital, had improved preceptors and nursing students was not graded. Further descriptive and intervention studies are therefore needed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Mid Sweden University, Ostersund SE-831 25, Sweden. karin.hallin@miun.se
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hallin
authors.forename: Ella
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Danielson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004508:Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008297:Male; D008611:Mentors / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009720:Nurse Clinicians / Q000523:psychology*; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D011231:Preceptorship / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013338:Students, Nursing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden