Handling the invisibility in the role of preceptor: An interview study among Public health nurses

Author(s):

Esther Hjälmhult(presenting / submitting)Gerd U Haaland Astrid S Litland

Conference:

ECER 2013

Network:

08. Research on Health Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

08 SES 09, Professional Competence Development in Health Education

Paper Session

Time:

2013-09-12

11:00-12:30

Room:

D-504

Chair:

Jeanette Magne Jensen

Contribution

Background. Preceptors’ working environment, support and competence affect how they perform the preceptor role, are therefore important for developing students and can influence students’ roles as students and future professionals. Previous research has focused on precepting student nurses and not so much on public health nurses or other postgraduate students. Knowledge in this field is therefore lacking.

Objective. The article aims to present a grounded theory of the role of public health nurses as student preceptors in Norway.

Design. We conducted 20 interviews with public health nurses in addition to a focus group with four participants. We used classical grounded theory methods to gather and analyse data.

Findings. The preceptors were strongly concerned about invisibility and lack of recognition of the preceptor role. This main concern was resolved by the strategy of being obligated and included three patterns: optimistic, ambivalent and reluctant performance, all with differing motivation for being obligated. All stakeholders involved in clinical practice seem to contribute to making the preceptors’ role invisible and thereby contribute to the lack of recognition, support and reward, which again seem to self-reinforce invisibility.

Conclusion. The study highlights the obligation of public health nurses in precepting students and increases the understanding of the challenges of this role. Ensuring education of a high people involved.

Method

Grounded theory is a qualitative, systematic approach and the aim is to move beyond mere description and generate a theory that explains the pattern of behaviour in the study involved (Glaser 1978, 2005). We recruited participants to the study in collaboration with the managers of public health services. Ethical principles were ensured. The analyses include open, selective and theoretical coding and thus we started with open coding using constant comparison of incidents exploring similarities and differences. We inductively coded and analysed the interviews by generating hypotheses from the data about what was happening in the area studied. We identified the preceptors’ main concern during their commitment for a PHN student and next we identified the core category that could catch how they resolve this concern. Further, we coded selective in relation to the core category and grouped the codes into broad categories. Finally, we continued theoretical coding, which relates the concepts of the theory to each other distinctly at a more abstract level, until we found theoretical saturation. In the process of analysis we used the last four interviews, included the focus group interview, to ensure demographic variety in the data material and to enrich the emerging codes and relationships.

Expected Outcomes

These findings contribute new knowledge on how “being obligated” accounts for how PHN preceptors cope with their concern about being invisible and the lack of recognition in the role of precepting. This encompasses three dynamic patterns of optimistic, ambivalent and reluctant performance, with different motivations of being obligated. Precepting seems to be invisible because of a continual dual function with clients or patients and student. All stakeholders involved in clinical practice seem to contribute to making the preceptors’ role invisible and thereby contribute to the lack of recognition, support and rewards, which again seems to self-reinforce invisibility. Without binding contracts between the university and clinical practice with a specific framework and dedicated time, precepting may continue to be incidental and variable. Thus, the issue of being obligated and invisibility is complex and requires complex solutions with collaboration between the decision-makers for society’s mandate in which managers, preceptors and academic departments need further support for and development within the preceptor role.

References

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Author Information

Esther Hjälmhult (presenting / submitting)

Bergen University College

Bergen

Gerd U Haaland

Bergen University College, Norway

Astrid S Litland