Preceptorship in clinical nursing education in Sweden: aspects of quality assurance.

Abstract

Nursing education in Sweden is in a changing phase and the aim of this study is to describe a group of nurse preceptors and explore some of the factors that are believed to be of importance to clinical teaching according to the current model. Staff nurses (N = 86) who served as preceptors to students during their main clinical training in the areas of surgical, medical and long-term care participated in the study. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire designed for the study and the Nurse Self Description Form (NSDF). The results revealed that 39% of the preceptors had less than two years experience as Registered Nurses and 30% were less than 26 years old. These less experienced preceptors evaluated the amount of education they had received concerning the nursing process and related subjects as significantly higher when compared to the more experienced nurses. Approximately one fourth of the preceptors (N = 23) were using care planning in their ordinary work and another 29 had prior experience, but many preceptors (N = 34, 39%) had no direct experience of individualized care planning. Although there was a great deal of variance, the preceptors' estimation of their own professionalism such as in teaching, leadership and knowledge mastery as measured by the NSDF did not reveal any significant differences from ordinary nurses in a reference group. It is concluded that the quality of the important clinical part of nurse education may vary according to individual experience and knowledge of the preceptors.