Preceptors: The Rx for Strong Hospital Performance

TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction 3

THE ROLE OF A PRECEPTOR 4Begin with Post-grad Nurses 4

Make Onboarding More Impactful 5

Meet with New Hires at Intervals 6

PRECEPTOR CHARACTERISTICS 7Core Capabilities of Preceptors 8

BENEFITS OF PRECEPTORS 10On Turnover: 10

On Engagement: 12

Conclusion 13

Sources 14

Preceptors play a critical role in healthcare: they’re paired up with new hires, typically in a one-on-one relationship, to:1

• Serve as role model

• Promote clinical and professional competency

• Provideopportunitiestodevelopandrefineskills

• Connect student with other providers and disciplines

• Providerealityofwork/lifeinreal-worldsetting

Discoverhowleveragingthepowerofpreceptorscandrivehospitalperformance,staffproductivity,andstrongerpatientoutcomes.

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1THE ROLE OF A PRECEPTOR “A preceptor acts as a liaison between the academic and the professional aspect of nursing. These nurses go above and beyond their normal nursing roles and take on the noble responsibility of teaching to the best of their ability.”2

Preceptors help ease the transition between school and actual practice, and provide real-world experience and knowledge for how new nurses can achieve a meaningful career. A preceptor’s role will:

BEGIN WITH POST-GRAD NURSESUpon graduation, new nurses will be assigned a preceptor. New hires will receive one as well, but grads, due to their minimal career experiences, will stay with a preceptor for a longer period of time. Just 10% of nursing executives feel that nursing grads are sufficiently competent to deliver care,3 so pairing them with an experienced, patient preceptor will boost performance.

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1MAKE ONBOARDING MORE IMPACTFUL Onboarding only matters if the information sticks, and preceptors, who’ve been through it all before, can supplement the organization’s training with their own experiences to increase knowledge retention. This includes showing new hires the ins and outs of their new role (and/or their new field) and sharing best practices that can only be earned through time on the job.

10%Just 10% of nursing executives feel that nursing grads are sufficiently competent to deliver care.4

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1MEET WITH NEW HIRES AT INTERVALSTo further ease their new hires’ transition, preceptors should schedule meetings at the 30 day, 60 day, 90 day, and 6 month points to discuss challenges and how to overcome them, their successes, and performance goals.5 Perhaps most importantly, these sessions can be used to provide feedback and ensure that new hires begin and continue their careers on solid footing.

Preceptors are teamed up with new hires and often times, new graduates, and are tasked with easing the transition into being a practitioner. Meetings and coaching at scheduled intervals help teach beyond what is in the books.

Since precepting is based on relationships, discover what characteristics a preceptor needs to be successful.

30DAYS

60DAYS

90DAYS

6MONTHS

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1

Toxic Employees in the Workplace

View

Why Staff Leave Your Hospital

View

An Engaging Employee Experience

View

2PRECEPTOR CHARACTERISTICS

“Preceptors are expected to have the skills to be able to form an effective learning environment and facilitate a constructive clinical learning experience for students and new employees.”6

– NCBI

Preceptors need more than experience to be effective, though having a wealth of it is a prerequisite. They also need to possess certain traits and talents.

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2CORE CAPABILITIES OF PRECEPTORSAccording to the Loyola University Chicago, preceptors should demonstrate the following traits and proficiencies:7

F Desire to be a supporter/ teacher

F Competency in a specialty area

F Effective interpersonal and communication skills

F Teaching skills

F Sensitivity to the learning needs of students

F Leadership skills

F Decision making and problem-solving skills

F Positive professional attitude

F Interest in professional growth

F Ability to provide feedback effectively to students and faculty

F Ability to provide accessibility to students for completion of projects/objectives

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2These aptitudes go beyond nursing skills; preceptors who have these capabilities will be especially adept at passing their hard-earned knowledge to less experienced members of the staff. This leads to dramatic organizational benefits.

A Walden University study found that benefits of precepting programs include: retention of talent, increased professional competency, a reduction in turnover and orientation costs, and is a more effective approach to staff development.8

Like any teacher, preceptors need to be subject experts who are patient and dedicated to someone else’s development. They need to exude confidence and demonstrate leadership capabilities.

See how preceptors make a positive impact on overall hospital performance.

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3BENEFITS OF PRECEPTORS

“One nurse retention strategy is to have newly hired nurses partake in a preceptorship. Precepting is a way to enculturate new employees into their role. A preceptorship in nursing creates a professional, collegial relationship between an experienced nurse and a newly hired nurse…” 9

ON TURNOVER:Retention is a critical challenge for healthcare organizations, and the effects on budgets and performance are dramatic:

1Attrition costs hospitals $60K per employee,10 and with annual turnoverhoveringaround15%,11astaffwithonehundrednursesrisksaretention-basedlossof$900,000.

2 Organizationswithnurseturnoverratesbetween12%and44%havehigherrisk,adjustedmortalityrates,poorerqualityofcare,decreasedpatientsatisfaction,andlongerpatientlengthofstays.12

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3However, preceptor initiatives boost first year retention rates by 25-64%.13 When drilled down even further, one report found that preceptor programs decreased turnover from 36% to 6% during a 12-month period of time. In another case study, a 12-week preceptor program by Orsini decreased nurse turnover from 22% to 7%.15

The writing is on the wall: preceptor programs lead to drastic improvements in the bottom line and in nearly every metric of hospital performance.

Preceptor initiatives boost first year retention rates by 25-64%.14

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3

Toxic Employees in the Workplace

View

Why Staff Leave Your Hospital

View

An Engaging Employee Experience

View

ON ENGAGEMENT:Disengaged employees are a mix of poor onboarding, bad culture fit, and in many cases, didn’t receive the right training for their role. Sometimes called toxic, they reduce organizational commitment and focus in 78% of negatively affected employees,16 and 12% of their ‘victims’ quit.17 This creates a negative, circular relationship between engagement, performance, turnover, and patient care.

However, preceptor initiatives are able to remedy this before it becomes a permanent albatross on patient care and growth. Ninety-seven percent of preceptees reported “high or quite high” levels of job satisfaction.18 Practitioner teams with high rates of employee engagement simply perform better.

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Preceptorshelpnewhiresstartoffontherightfoot.Doingsoreducesattritionandboostsengagement,bothofwhichhaveastrongimpactonorganizationalperformance.

Hospitalpreceptorshaveadramaticeffectonhospitalsystems.Their mix of professionalism, expertise, and desire to impart their knowledgemakesthemavaluableasset.Preceptorinitiativesreduceturnoverandincreaseengagement.

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Learn more strategies for driving hospital performance! CSOD/healthcare

Sources

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