Nursing requires professional leadership and development There are many ways to create

Nursing requires professional leadership and development. There are many ways to create and sustain this environment. The concept of preceptorship has been identified as necessary and one way to address this need. At the facility where I work, there is a strong need for a nurse preceptorship program. New nurses are not trained properly, and a mentoring support is absent. This has resulted in a high turnover rate for nurses in the facility. On the other hand, experienced nurses are not provided with the necessary materials and training to precept a new nurse. The patient care in the end becomes affected due to poorly trained nurses and staffing issues. Aim of Concept AnalysisThe aim of this concept analysis is to highlight the meaning of preceptorship as it relates to nursing and its relevance to leadership. With the guidance from Walker and Avant (2011), a concept, literature review and model case will be explained in detail. Definitions of preceptorship and a review of the literature will examine the current use and attributes that contributes to becoming a successful preceptor. At my current workplace, there has been a decrease in staff retention, mainly new nurses. One of the main reasons for leaving has been identified as lack of support and insufficient training. I have experienced this firsthand because I am one of the nurses who was not trained properly and would often have to go back to my textbook or look up current practice. Another issue that has been identified is the experienced nurses are not kept up to date and some are not aware they must precept a new nurse. Periodically, a newly hired nurse would be orienting with a different nurse during the orientation period. This produces confusion and miscommunication, as every nurse has a different way of practicing as well as teaching. Whenever a new nurse has a question or needs guidance, it is often brushed off or the other nurses are too busy because of the patient to nurse ratio. This then causes nurses to feel unsupported and neglected which then leads to decrease in staff retention. Preceptorship in nursing should be a valued and nurturing relationship where the experienced nurse supports the growth and development of a new nurse. The need for preceptorship is necessary to increase staff retention, develop professional leadership, improve and sustain quality patient care and allows nurses to continue the cycle of education towards one another. Literature ReviewDefining AttributesModel Case The model case demonstrates all defining attributes in order to portray an example of the concept. In this specific model case, a newly graduated registered nurse showed up to the stroke unit for her first day on the floor. She is assigned to Daphna, a nurse with over 30 years of experience in that specific specialty. Daphna will be her assigned preceptor for the next three months and they will go over their agenda and all the objectives of what she needs to learn. They will both set goals of what needs to be achieved by the end of the three months. The newly grad nurse is not only eager to learn but she takes good directions from her preceptor. Daphna is not only a nurse, but she serves as a role model for the new grad. They engage in interpersonal relationship as she orients her to the unit. The new grad feels comfortable in asking any questions as it relates to nursing and Daphna provides all the necessary guidance. As they get more comfortable with each other, the newly grad nurse begins to adopt some of the skills and attitude demonstrated by her preceptor. The newly grad nurse completes her preceptorship with Daphna, and she feels confident in starting to work on her own. This exemplifies a model case of preceptorship. Contrary CaseA newly grad nurse presents to the stroke unit for her first day of orientation. She meets with John, who will be her assigned preceptor. The new grad nurse is very nervous and scared as this is her first job. John doesn’t seem so happy to be orienting anyone and is already complaining about being burnt out. They will be working together for the next three months. Whenever the new nurse asks John for help, he redirects her to another nurse because he is too busy. The new nurse seemingly overwhelmed, is now in a position where her preceptor is not showing her the skills and attributes to be a successful nurse. John’s actions are clearly not a case of preceptorship, which includes a mentoring and respectful relationship in which knowledge is shared to the new grad to further her development. AntecedentsAntecedents are the events that happen prior to the occurrence of the concept, preceptorship. The antecedents that must occur includes a preceptor and a preceptee, dependency, learning objectives and an environment conducive to learning. An organization that supports and encourages preceptorship enhances the success of newly grad nurses which then leads to staff retention. ConsequencesThe consequences of preceptorship are newly grad nurses gain insight and develop leadership skills, professional development, increased job satisfaction and retention. Preceptorship empowers both the preceptor and the preceptee, which ultimately benefits the organization and patient care. By embracing these types of relationships, it creates a culture in the workplace that encourages nurses to want to come to work. The newly grad nurse, in turn will have enough confidence to precept other new nurses in the future and the cycle continues. Antecedents Consequences Empirical ReferentsWalker and Avant states that “empirical referents are classes or categories of actual phenomena that by their existence or presence demonstrate the occurrence of the concept itself” (p.71). Preceptorship is a way for nurses to learn from each other and adopt skills and attributes to improve patient care. “The relationship between preceptors and new nurses and/or nursing students can not be underestimated. Those that accept the responsibility of preceptorship should be rewarded for their willingness to devote time, share knowledge and skills as well as professional anecdotal insight with a new or future colleague”