It starts with an email or a hallway drive-by. “You’re a great nurse … can you precept our new hire tomorrow?” In the blink of an eye, you’re a preceptor. There is no explanation of expectations, teaching strategies, or evaluation tools—just a 15-page orientation packet that may be older than you, a full patient assignment, and the words from your leader, “You’ll be great.” You smile, but spend the next eight weeks of orientation in a quiet panic, realizing you are responsible for developing a new nurse while wondering, “Am I doing this right?”

Sound familiar?

This scenario was not hypothetical for our organization; it was real life. Nurses were frequently placed into the preceptor role with no formal training or support. The expectation was to develop confident and competent nurses ready for practice, despite a lack of support for the preceptor. At the same time, organizational data revealed concerning trends: Newly hired nurses consistently reported low confidence at the end of orientation, and first-year turnover rates were higher than our organizational goals. Together, these findings highlighted a gap between expectations and support for one of the most influential roles in nursing (Ulrich et al., 2025).

Follow along with us on our journey from problem identification to implementation, where we share top-notch outcomes and lessons learned from developing an evidence-based preceptor development program.

Turning Evidence into Action

As champions of inquiry, we turned to the literature to understand how to address the challenges our organization was facing. What we found was loud and clear: Preceptors are critical to the success of nurses transitioning into practice. However, the literature was equally clear that it is not just any preceptor that drives success, but preceptors that are prepared, supported, and developed (Edward et al., 2017; Ulrich et al., 2025; Ward & McComb, 2017).

Beth Ulrich’s (2024) preceptor model was selected to serve as the foundation for our program design, emphasizing the complex nature of the preceptor role. The organizational findings and literature search led to the design of a structured, evidence-based preceptor development program. Goals of the program were to elevate the preceptor role and improve orientation outcomes.

Building Collaboration

Before further designing the program content, we engaged our impacted parties. We met with nursing executives and unit leaders to share our findings supporting preceptor education, highlight the connection between preceptor preparation and orientation outcomes, and advocate for preceptor education as a strategic investment rather than an added obligation.

Equally important was engaging our current preceptors. To better understand their lived experience in the role, we distributed self-assessment surveys asking them to reflect on their perceived strengths, opportunities for growth, and the education they wished they had to enhance their effectiveness as a preceptor. This feedback ensured that the program was not built solely on literature or the nursing professional development perspective but grounded in the real needs of those doing the work.

These initial steps were critical to the success of our program and reflected the collaborative partnerships emphasized in Nursing Professional Development: Scope and Standards of Practice, NPD Standard 11: Collaboration (Harper & Maloney, 2022). Leadership buy-in helped reinforce the importance of standardization of expectations across units and establish shared accountability for preceptor development, while preceptor input shaped the content and design of the program. Together, this collaborative approach created the momentum needed to move our program from concept to reality.

Learning That Doesn’t Feel Like “Another Class”

The course addressed Ulrich’s (2024) seven key roles of the preceptor, helping participants recognize there is much more to precepting than clinical expertise. Themes identified in the literature, crosswalks of preceptor programs, and feedback from preceptors and leaders helped complete our course design. Guided by NPD Standards 4: Planning and 5: Implementation, the curriculum was planned and implemented using evidence-based, learner-centered strategies that directly addressed the practice gaps identified (Harper & Maloney, 2022).

The result was a two-day, 10-hour course designed to reflect the complexity and influence of the role. Course content focused on preparing preceptors to effectively support nurses across the continuum of orientation through topics such as the importance of the role, personality and communication styles, adult learning principles, generational differences, reality shock, reflective practice, critical thinking development, time management and prioritization, goal setting, feedback, and strategies for navigating challenging preceptor-preceptee interactions. Together, these concepts provided preceptors with tools to foster competence, confidence, and professional growth in the nurses they support.

As learning facilitators, we focused the course on adult-learning principles and prioritized learner engagement. Strategies included small-group discussions, guided reflection, role-playing, case studies, and short videos to introduce concepts in a relatable way. The outcome was high-energy, meaningful discussion, laughter, and frequent comments such as, “Thank you for making this fun and interactive!”

During the course, preceptors were educated on the current orientation model, unit-specific orientation expectations, their role in evaluating competency, and how to partner with unit leaders throughout orientation. This integration reinforced consistency among preceptors and ensured they understood not only how to be effective teachers, but how to fully engage with the tools and frameworks guiding orientation within their own practice environment.

Supporting the Role: Because Preceptors Need Preceptors, Too

Preceptor education does not end when class does. To continue investing in preceptors, we designed follow-up continuing education sessions at six and 12 months (Bengtsson & Carlson, 2015; Durkin et al., 2023). These two-hour sessions provided space for reflection, skill refinement, and connection, with content focused on navigating difficult conversations, giving and receiving feedback, fostering critical thinking in new nurses, managing preceptor fatigue, and recognizing the impact of the preceptor role.

Consistent with adult-learning principles, these sessions also emphasized active engagement through discussion, case scenarios, and peer learning. The sessions incorporated small-group work within participants’ respective units, allowing preceptors to discuss real-time challenges in familiar settings. Additionally, a crucial conversations expert was invited to share targeted strategies on navigating challenging discussions, an area consistently identified by preceptors as a high-priority skill for continued development. Recognition was also embedded through handwritten leader notes, shared praise from preceptor evaluations, tokens of appreciation, and outcome data reinforcing the measurable impact of preceptors’ work.

The impact of these sessions extended beyond content mastery. Preceptors frequently expressed appreciation for the opportunity to reconnect, reflect, and learn from one another. One participant shared, “I think it helped recapping with everyone what struggles they have been going through. It helps us see that we aren’t going through this alone.” Another noted that “the content made having difficult conversations not so scary,” while another reflected on renewed self-awareness, stating the sessions were a “good reminder of the preceptor roles I need to improve on.” Perhaps most meaningfully, preceptors consistently voiced the importance of recognition, with one participant sharing it was “good to feel appreciated and that what we do matters.”

Together, these sessions strengthened the community of preceptors we had built, normalized shared challenges, and reinforced a key message: Supporting preceptors is an ongoing investment, not a one-and-done event. These sessions reflected the throughputs of the ANPD Nursing Professional Development Practice Model, moving beyond content delivery to promote role development and collaborative partnerships within the preceptor community.

But, Did it Work?

Consistent with NPD Standard 6: Evaluation, we measured outcomes to determine the impact of our program (Harper & Maloney, 2022). Data was collected at multiple time points aligned with each outcome measure:

• New nurse retention was evaluated at six and 12 months from hire.
• New nurse confidence and satisfaction were measured before orientation and again at six and 12 months post-orientation.
• Preceptor competency scores were assessed immediately after the preceptor class and at the 6 and 12 month continuing education sessions.
• New nurses completed preceptor evaluations post-orientation.

The data demonstrated improved new nurse retention, increased new nurse confidence and satisfaction, significant improvements in preceptor competency scores, and more consistent and positive evaluations of preceptor performance from new nurses post-orientation.

Beyond the quantitative data, course evaluations provided valuable feedback, including comments such as:

• “It helps me feel prepared to orient new hires. This information is relevant and engaging.”
• “Definitely recommend. This course is awesome for anyone interested in being a preceptor!”
• “It has improved my awareness of what it means to be a preceptor.”
• “It motivated me to be a better preceptor.”

Overall, our work reinforced a core belief: When we treat precepting as a specialty role, we achieve specialty-level outcomes.

What’s Next for NPD Practice?

Preceptors shape how new nurses think and practice. As NPD practitioners, we are uniquely positioned to develop and influence the value of preceptors. Whether advocating for formal preceptor education, evaluating existing programs for gaps, or creating structures for ongoing support and recognition, our work has the power to elevate precepting from an obligation to an opportunity. Behind every good nurse is a great preceptor—but behind every great preceptor is an NPD practitioner who recognized the impact of the role and chose to invest in its development. That investment creates a ripple effect that extends far beyond orientation, influencing nurses, patients, families, and the future of nursing itself.

References

Bengtsson, M., & Carlson, E. (2015). Knowledge and skills needed to improve as preceptor: Development of a continuous professional development course – a qualitative study part I. BMC Nursing, 14(51).

Durkin, G., Cosetta, M., Mara, C., Memmolo, S., Nixon, C., Rogan, M. & Pignataro, S. (2023). A multimodal project to assess preceptor burnout. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 39(1), 33-41.

Edward, K. L., Ousey, K., Playle, J., & Giandinoto, J. A. (2017). Are new nurses work ready: The impact of preceptorship. An integrative systematic review. Journal of Professional Nursing, 33(5), 326-333.

Harper, M. G., & Maloney, P. (Eds.). (2022). Nursing professional development: Scope & standards of practice (4th ed.). Association for Nursing Professional Development.

Ulrich, B. (2024). Mastering precepting (3rd ed.). Sigma Theta Tau International.

Ulrich, B., Harper, M. G., Maloney, P., Insalaco, W. J., Whiteside, D., & MacDonald, R. (2025). National preceptor competency consensus study. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 55(1), 14-21.

Ward, A., & McComb, S. (2017). Precepting: A literature review. Journal of Professional Nursing, 33(5), 314-325.