Supporting the transition to practice: preceptor behaviors that foster a positive student preceptorship experience

Objectives: Preceptors support nursing students when transitioning to the professional nursing role. This study explored student perceptions of preceptor characteristics that promoted or hindered learning. Methods: A Likert-scale survey including two open-ended questions was sent to 571 nursing students completing a preceptorship experience. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze responses to the Likert-scale items. Qualitative analysis was completed on the two exploratory questions to extract themes. Results: Students rated the preceptor between 4=Very Good and 5=Outstanding for all items. No significant differences in scores were found when comparing results between programs. Themes assisting in learning included: increasing independence gradually and pushing out of comfort zone. Themes identified that hindered learning included: doubting self and being pushed aside. Conclusions: Future implications include communicating preceptorship objectives and providing ways to apply research to practice. These findings can guide collaboration between academic and practice partners to assist with transition to practice.