Describe the organization's preceptor educational program(s) and how each program is evaluated on an ongoing basis.
In 2011, the nursing department contacted the Associate Services Educators to offer suggestions for the System-wide Preceptor Course to make it more relevant for clinicians. Nursing relayed that there was a significant retention risk for the most recent group of graduate nurses and anecdotal data referenced the Preceptor Course design as a significant contributing factor. Further exploration found that the graduate nurses felt unprepared to assume the role of the staff nurse and therefore felt unsuccessful. The nurse preceptors felt unprepared to apply their skills after the Preceptor Course, especially in regard to helping the graduate nurses develop critical thinking skills. Both the Associate Services and Nursing Departments agreed to collaborate to re-design the Preceptor Course.
A team of educators in the Thompson Health System came together to explore course design. This included: the System Clinical Educator, the FF Thompson Clinical Nurse Educator, the Senior Living Educator/Retention Specialist and the System Educator. Research was sought on best practices among preceptorships specifically in regard to nursing orientation. A team including the System Clinical Educator, the FF Thompson Nurse Educator, a medical surgical nurse and the System Educator collaborated with Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton, NY to learn about their orientation program based on the VNIP (Vermont Nurses in Partnership) model. It was soon obvious that the recommended guidelines for successful onboarding for nurses could also be applied to other job positions within a healthcare organization.
Over the next year, new course goals and objectives were established based on best practices. The 100% face-to-face class was converted to a blended learning format that included on-line interactive modules followed by a face-to-face session. This blended experience allowed participants to learn about the principles of mentoring at their own pace and within their own schedule and then follow-up with an instructor to practice skills and network with classmates from a variety of job positions. The course itself was re-designed to expand the content for clinicians including teaching strategies for busy days and strategies for building critical thinking skills. Best practice articles authored by clinicians were made accessible with the click of a button from the online modules. In addition to the course modifications, starter documentation forms were developed which not only identified line items required by the Joint Commission but divided orientation into chunks with broad objectives which were suggested by VNIP for successful onboarding. Additional tips were also provided to the nurse participants by the FF Thompson Nurse Educator that emphasized more specific developmental timelines and nursing goals.
In 2012, a group of eight nurses was selected with representation from each unit and asked to participate in the course pilot. Due to the concurrent transition to electronic medical records, only two nurses completed the entire program. These nurses provided significant feedback on the course design and the new starter documentation forms that resulted in further course modification. The revised course was released in September 2013 and opened to the entire system. The course now has CEU credit and the evaluations are overwhelmingly positive. Participants express confidence in their ability to apply their new skills and feel more comfortable establishing their own program with the aid of the starter forms.
This successful program would not have been possible without the Nursing Department feeling empowered to reach out to Associate Services and suggest modifications. The feedback from nursing and the collaboration with nursing was significant toward this end. With the reformatted preceptor course in place, there have been multiple nurses involved in the completion of the preceptor program across all nursing units. One of the qualifying factors for nurses in the Professional Advancement System (PAS), is to serve as a primary preceptor for at least two experiences. To serve as preceptor, they must complete the hybrid preceptor course and provide feedback along with preceptor evaluation tools to the Nurse Director and Nurse Educator. Evaluation of the preceptor course is an ongoing event, with changes and updates made bi-annually as nurses complete the program. Upon completion of the preceptor course, the nurse is required to complete a survey regarding the preceptor program and provide constructive feedback to allow for changes in the layout/time allotment/delivery method of the information.
Exhibit SE8.1 Preceptor Survey
Exhibit SE8.2 Preceptor Feedback Survey