The Tried, True, and New

Abstract

The training of a new critical care nurse is not solely the transmission of a determined body of knowledge or skill set. When one begins to consider what actually makes a critical care nurse a critical care nurse, one realizes that the training is much more complex. It involves the teaching of appropriate thought processes, and use of the body of knowledge and/or skill set in application with respect to a specific patient, disease state, or a group of symptoms. Teaching a new critical care nurse to think, talk, act, and respond like a critical care nurse is just as important as sharing knowledge--that is what makes a critical care nurse. This article summarizes one hospital's critical care training program and orientation for new critical care nurses with and without critical care experience. This is done in pursuit of excellence in patient care, by providing a comprehensive and complete, full-service training program. All nurses deserve the very best education and training-our patients demand it.

Formalising the precepting process: A concept analysis of preceptorship

“…First, throughout most of the literature, precepting is described as a one-on-one relationship (Almada et al, 2004;Beecroft, Hernandez, & Reid, 2008;DeCicco, 2008;Hallin & Danielson, 2010;Hendricks, Wallace, Narwold, Guy, & Wallace, 2013;McNiesh, 2007;Myrick, Yonge, & Billay, 2010;Nolan & Murphy, 2006;Rebeiro et al, 2017;Ru-Shang, Chuan-Chiang, & Pi-Lan, 2012;Seldomridge & Walsh, 2006;Shih & Chuang, 2008). While preceptees may switch among multiple preceptors over the course of their preceptorships, at any given moment in time, they only work side-by-side with one preceptor.…”

“…Only two articles reviewed described experiences that were not one-on-one (Marcum & West, 2004;Proulx & Bourcier, 2008). A one-on-one relationship is critical to facilitate individualisation of the precepting process (Nolan & Murphy, 2006;O'Neil, 2008;Wiseman, 2013).…”

“…Finally, preceptorships provide preceptees with a supervised environment in which to gain practical experiences, including learning policies and procedures specific to the organisation, strategies for delivering care in a dynamic environment, and honing hands-on skills needed in the clinical setting (Beecroft et al, 2008;Blum, 2014;Halfer, 2007;Hughes & Fraser, 2011;McNiesh, 2007;Myrick et al, 2010;Nolan & Murphy, 2006;O'Neil, 2008;Proulx & Bourcier, 2008;Rogan, 2009;Ru-Shang et al, 2012;Shih & Chuang, 2008;Simpson et al, 2006;Singer, 2006). These experiences allow preceptees to receive support and guidance from preceptors (Hughes & Fraser, 2011) as they learn in real-world environments (Ru-Shang et al, 2012).…”

“…Systematic facilitation of this learning process may be guided by the aforementioned skills and experiences checklist. Moreover, it may include preceptor validation of required hands-on clinical skills and identification of preceptees' skill remediation needs that can be orchestrated by the preceptors (McNiesh, 2007;Nolan & Murphy, 2006;O'Neil, 2008).…”

“…Direct consequences of the formalised preceptorship include verification of hands-on skills required for nursing care (McNiesh, 2007;Nolan & Murphy, 2006;O'Neil, 2008), as well as socialisation into the healthcare organisation and profession McNiesh, 2007;Rogan, 2009). Indirectly, the preceptorship has the potential to enhance the preceptees' perceptions of the nursing profession as demonstrated by reported increases in professional pride (Loiseau et al, 2003) and confidence (Almada et al, 2004;Fox et al, 2006) resulting from the preceptorship experience.…”