%0 Journal Article
%T Preceptorship: Exploring the experiences of final year student nurses in acute hospital setting.
%A Lorraine Varley
%A Catherine MacNamara
%A Patricia Mannix-McNamara
%J Journal of Hospital Administration
%D 2012
%I 
%R 10.5430/jha.v1n2p42
%X Background: Preceptors play a pivotal role in inducting, supporting, teaching and assessing students on clinical placement. This research sought to examine student nurses¡¯ experiences of preceptorship during their clinical placement in their final year of studies in order to further illuminate what is known about preceptorship in Ireland. Method: A qualitative research design was adopted for this study. Forty-seven final year nursing students were questioned using a structured enquiry schedule about their experiences of preceptorship during clinical placement. All participants were female. The data were analysed thematically according to Smith, Flowers and Larkin¡¯s (2009) framework. Results: The results indicate that while a small minority found the experience of preceptors enhanced their learning while on clinical placement, the majority has a less than optimal experience. Reasons for this included: busy workloads of preceptors, difficulty in the accessibility of the preceptor and lack of preceptor training. Conclusions: The results highlight a number of challenges facing students and preceptors in the study. The authors advocate for a more systematic national study into preceptorship implementation in Ireland. This is necessary in order to inform a more coherent framework with national standards for preceptor training and implementation.
%U http://www.sciedu.ca/journal/index.php/jha/article/view/1419