This article is a response to Randy D. Danielsen's editorial "The Death of Altruism, or, Can I Get a Preceptor, Please?" from the April 2016 issue of Clinician Reviews.
I have been an RN for about 30 years and an NP for the past seven years. In the busy and intense internal medicine practice where I am employed, I have had the pleasure of precepting five or six students in the past six years. I am currently taking a break and am not sure if I will ever precept again.
You are so right in regard to having the time to precept students with the issues of productivity, etc. The hospital group that I am employed by actually encourages precepting, however the extra time that is needed to teach a student usually leads to later evenings trying to catch up. Beyond those issues, the last student I had has been an RN for about a year and is totally unprepared for the rigors and responsibilities of being an NP. I actually could not pass this person in certain areas, such as pharmacology, due to concerns I had with safety and lack of a strong knowledge base. This person had a very poor understanding of the basics of pharmacology; I really could not believe that this student had taken a pharmacology class at an APN level or even in basic RN courses. A preceptor is a person who is willing to teach and guide another person; I do not feel the responsibility is that of a classroom instructor. We should be building on their classroom knowledge.
Another frustrating issue is that there was absolutely no contact with the college until I reached out to them two weeks after the internship ended. It was also difficult to obtain a certificate stating I had precepted to receive CME credit.
The paperwork from the three universities I have precepted for has been manageable. However, each time I sign up to help out a student at a new school, I have to resubmit all of my information (my resume, etc.) I have found other groups within the medical practice that have contracted with one college only. I now understand why! I see reason to submit my license data, but beyond that am not sure why so much is necessary. I feel the schools of nursing have no idea what it is like to work 10-hour days with very little free time.
I am very concerned with the quality of the current programs; I am hoping that schools are not lowering their admission standards, since this will greatly affect the profession as a whole, specifically the respect of and employment by the medical community.
Name Withheld by Request
FOR MORE LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
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Precepting: I Love It, But ...
Preceptor Tax Incentive Program: The Realities