“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”William Arthur Ward
When was the last time you had someone inspire you to learn something new. Did you enjoy the process of learning or facilitation? Do you ever think back to when you started your nursing journey? That first experience where you finally got the new uniform and your practicing license. How did you find your new work station?Maybe that is too long ago, what about now? Have you changed your work station? Did you find a welcoming team? Maybe these first questions do not apply to you. Maybe you work in the work station where you are receiving the new colleague. What impact have you made in their life? In recent years I have had the opportunity of being on both sides of the equation and honestly, I am disappointed. I feel we could do it much better if we all strived to it. That is both the management level within organizations and the staff.
The transition period for any cadre of staff is very important. This period has a great impact on1. Determining one's level of competency.
2. An individual's work performance
3.Level of job satisfaction
4. The occurrence of little to no patient safety events.
This is of key importance because with each new day hospitals are receiving more patients with complex and chronic conditions. Secondly, due to increasing healthcare costs in our country, more people are taking up health insurance relegating our care to scrutiny and greater risk of litigious processes. Thirdly, as we try to provide health services to the underinsured and uninsured patient we should strive to use our acquired skills to minimize hospital visits by providing appropriate care on their first visit. This can only be achieved by obtaining clinical competency.
Are you familiar with preceptorship/mentorship? According to Segen's Medical Dictionary (2012), preceptorship refers to a structured, supportive period of transition from learning to applying a complex skill. To be a preceptor one can be either formally trained or it can be an informally acquired skill for instance through extensive clinical practice one can enhance their skill levels to a point where one can easily educate a novice. According to the Cambridge dictionary (2019), definition mentorship refers to a person who gives a younger or less experienced person help and advice over a period of time. In organizations where these two programs are effectively implemented, one can easily identify the difference in their specific roles. However, in most of our set-up, these words are used interchangeably. For further clarity please follow the links belowhttps://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJMCE-06-2017-0042/full/html
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/kcon_doctoralprojects/34/
My emphasis in this blogpost is on preceptorship programs.
Effective preceptorship programs have been linked to
- Increased job satisfaction
- Professional development
- An adequate level of confidence
- Socialization in the workplace
- Increasing staff retention rates
For one to be a good preceptor some of the skills needed include;
- Good interpersonal skills
- Cultural sensitivity
- Clinical competency
- Enthusiasm for teaching
- Providing guidance for problem-solving and clinical judgment
- Offering positive and negative feedback in a constructive manner
- Demonstrating empathy toward learners
- Promoting autonomy
- Being passionate about the field
For an in-depth analysis of the highlighted points, please follow the links below
https://lilylovelong.blogspot.com/2020/01/cultural-competence.html
https://lilylovelong.blogspot.com/2020/01/cultural-competence.html
As organizations strive to provide quality care. Greater emphasis needs to be put into understanding that autonomous practice and high-functioning critical-thinking skills develop over time with proper support. This can only be achieved through proper analysis of staff retention strategies such as effective nurse-patient ratios, generating effective preceptorship programs(Competent preceptor selection) and increasing budgetary allocation for academic development so as to help enhance clinical competencies, etc. In organizations willing to generate impact among the nursing profession they can participate in the Nightingale 2020 challenge organizations by following this link The Nightingale Challenge.
In summary, as we seek to create a change in clinical practice by advocating and adopting effective teaching and learning models and processes lets remember that;
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