Why is preceptorship recommended, encouraged and not mandatory in all trusts that employ newly qualified nurses?
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NME) recommends preceptorship for all new registrants, however it has not been mandated by the NMC or Care Quality Commission, so it is up to individual organisations to mandate it as they feel appropriate.
Can the programme be longer than 12 months? e.g. placements of 18 months being rotated at the halfway mark – after 9 months? Or is it too long?
Yes! it needs to be a minimum of 6 months and we recommend 12 months, however a programme of 9 months or 18 months is acceptable.
Can you please elaborate more re: protected time? How is this given to each nurse in the ward and how is it monitored? If a preceptee/preceptor had a meeting outside shift time, how will this be documented/monitored? Will a preceptor have 8 hours per year, regardless of their preceptee allocation?
We have resources available on protected time on our website here. It will differ according to the setting and department and on how it can be accommodated and documented. Ideally there would be additional time for a preceptor with more than one preceptee.
How is the challenge of protected time met when operational issues are so difficult? Can you get a finance director to tune the long view and value of this?
Good idea! Have a look at our business case in our resources section to support the implementation of the National Preceptorship Framework.
When you describe preceptorship as evidence-based what do you mean by that? Evidence showing what? Is there any evidence specifically linking it to retention?
Preceptorship is one part of the retention of new registrants; however, we know that where preceptees feel supported and valued, retention is higher.
How do you evidence preceptor support and the training of the preceptor role?
Each organisation is doing this differently. We do provide meeting templates which can be used to monitor the time spent and preceptors would note their development as part of Continuing Professional Development.
A 2 week supernumerary period is given on induction for nurses who join the Nursing and Midwifery Council post Objective Structure Clinical Examination. Is it suggested to relieve this again or are you happy given the first 2 weeks of employment?
This differs according to each organisation. If a newly registered nurse receives 2 weeks at the outset and during induction, we do not expect them to be given another two weeks. However, it will depend on the setting and the role of the new registrant.
What do trusts do for the pre-preceptorship period? What do those programmes look like?
We are looking at this currently and working with the Council of Deans for Healthcare.
What best practice preceptorship programmes are already happening in primary care, are they run at ICS or PCN or practice level, and how did they get buy-in from the employers?
Within primary care there are different models in different parts of the country. We have seen good preceptorship programmes when run at Primary Care Network or training hub level.
Which regions have developed/supported preceptorship through training hub to support primary care?
This is being done very successfully in London through CapitalNurse.
Will there be any funding made available for role out across primary care?
There is no additional funding available that we are currently aware of.
Are there any examples of preceptorship implementation at Integrated Care Board/place-based level, and how are social care and other non-NHS organisations included locally?
Integrated Care Systems are still quite new and some are looking at this – watch this space! Social care and other non-NHS organisations are included wherever possible. We are working closely with Skills for Care to ensure inclusivity.
Moving forward, how much collaboration and work has been or planned towards the AHP framework and might this be combined in future?
There has been full collaboration with our colleagues in both midwifery and AHPs to make the frameworks as similar as possible. They are separate frameworks, however they have a lot in common. The differences recognise and accommodate the different needs of the separate professions.
Can this work in the interprofessional environment?
Yes, it does. We are aware of many organisations running successful multi-disciplinary preceptorship programmes.
Will stakeholder engagement be revisited and extended to the AHP professional bodies?
We welcome AHP colleagues at all our events.
How do you plan to integrate the independent and private healthcare settings more into your work? We often have to fight to be allowed to be included / attend / know of your excellent work!
All healthcare settings are included and are welcome to join our communities of practice and workshops. Just follow us on Twitter!
How do we make preceptorship more equitable? Every preceptee deserves preceptorship, not just bigger trusts with large preceptorship teams. How can we even the field?
Through joining communities of practice, linking with larger organisations and working within ICSs. This will help to provide support to preceptees and a more equitable preceptorship.
How do you ensure preceptorship is fully embedded long term?
Recognising the value of preceptorship and the impact on retention rates will help embed preceptorship.
Considering the current scale of international recruitment, what are your thoughts on the preceptorship programme being utilised as a form of default overseas adaptation programme?
Preceptorship is just as important for international nurses as for our own nurses, however the focus is more on pastoral care and integration into the culture of the NHS.
Do you know if there’s any progress in rolling out preceptorship frameworks in other UK countries?
Different UK countries are at different stages with preceptorship but are working towards it.
Are the resources for Beyond Preceptorship available to regions other than London?
Yes – the Beyond resources are available on the HEE website at https://www.hee.nhs.uk/our-work/capitalnurse/workstreams/preceptorship
Beyond Preceptorship for the registered nurse associate – what pathways are open?
This will depend on the organisation. Most organisations already have a number of options available, and it is really about considering these and packaging them. We make recommendations in our CapitalNurse Beyond Preceptorship framework simply for guidance.
After completing the preceptorship programme are the preceptees considered as preceptor already? Or do they still need to undergo a preceptor development masterclass to officially become a preceptor?
They still need to undergo some preceptor development, so they understand the role, the requirements, the organisational policy and are given an opportunity to develop the skills.
How can we get our preceptors excited about supporting preceptees?
By helping them to feel valued, providing adequate training for the role, offering support and bringing preceptors together.
Is the half day preceptor training compulsory?
We are creating an e-learning package for all experiences. If you’re unable to relieve staff for half a day or more then e-learning is an excellent alternative. There will also be the new e-Learning for Healthcare packages available soon to support preceptor development.
Do you have a standardised job description for preceptorship lead and encourage all trusts to employ one?
We have a role descriptors in our resources section that can be used as a basis.
Should the preceptorship lead be a full time role? Is there specific training for preceptorship champions?
This will depend on organisations and how many preceptees they have. A large teaching hospital taking a lot of new nurses is likely to require more preceptorship lead time than a small organisation. We are looking at preceptorship champion training.
What are the benefits of being a preceptorship champion?
Enjoyment, a feeling of job satisfaction and helping others.
Where are monthly events advertised? What do action learning sets involve?
Communities of practice are set up by each Regional Lead and you can find out dates and details of events from them or on the Events section of our website.