What do newly-qualified nurses expect from preceptorship? Exploring the perspective of the preceptee

Preceptorship plays an important role in ensuring the smooth transition from student to registered nurse (UKCC 1993). To date, there has been little evidence to demonstrate the extent to which preceptorship has been introduced, and scant research into newly-qualified nurses’ expectations and experiences of preceptorship. A longitudinal, questionnaire survey is exploring the expectations of preceptorship, from the perspective of newly qualified nurses, as part of a Department of Health funded study into the careers of people qualifying from nursing diploma courses. The paper demonstrates how pilot work with a cohort of newly qualified nurses, combined with literature on preceptorship, enabled the identification of key aspects of preceptorship. Findings are presented on the expectations of adult branch nurses at the point of qualification. There was an overwhelming demand for preceptorship, and the majority of respondents anticipated that all identified aspects of preceptorship would be important in their first job. Aspects identified as particularly important were ‘constructive feedback on my clinical skills’ and ‘teaching new clinical skills’. Future questionnaires will reveal the extent to which these expectations are met.