Content area
Full text
Employee orientation, whether to an organization or to a new clinical setting, is important to the person's overall success. Experienced and competent preceptors who provide guidance and work alongside the new employee play a key role in this process. Nursing has a strong tradition of utilizing staff preceptors to instruct new employees on standards of care and validating staff competencies in both the inpatient and ambulatory care settings (Shinners & Franqueiro, 2015). Effective preceptors are identified as an important factor in graduate nurse transition to practice and to registered nurse transitions to new practice settings (Bontrager, Hart, & Mareno, 2016). Each preceptor provides the resources to connect the new hire to the organization, policies, standards, and procedures that are needed to function at high levels in shorter periods of time. In addition, preceptors play a key role in the validation and documentation of skills and training. In fact, The Joint Commission Human Resources Standards clearly state the organization has the responsibility to provide orientation and training of staff to support the care, treatment, and services provided (The Joint Commission, 2018).
Growth in ambulatory care services along with higher patient acuity has led to the need for increased numbers of registered nurses with experience and advanced skills to care for complex patients. Preceptors are crucial in assisting with this transition by providing new knowledge and support (American Academy of Ambulatory Care Nursing [AAACN], 2017a). However, many experienced staff have not had formal preceptor education and have learned teaching techniques, communication skills, and conflict management skills while on the job. A formalized preceptor education program that includes these competencies is needed to sustain the preceptor workforce (Ciocco, 2015; Cotter & Dienemann, 2016). Developing staff to be preceptors who are knowledgeable, supported, and encouraged to take on this additional role can lead to successful orientation outcomes and retention of new staff (Bontrager et al., 2016; Clipper & Cherry, 2015; Nash & Flowers, 2017). Importantly, education of preceptors in ambulatory care should address the uniqueness of care delivery in this setting.
Growth in ambulatory care sites, new clinical programs, and higher patient acuity has led to increased hiring of staff at all levels. The need to prepare new and existing staff for these new roles requires knowledgeable and skilled...