2004 OPEN FORUM Abstracts
THE MEANING OF PRECEPTORSHIP IN RESPIRATORY CARE CLINICAL EDUCATION
Kathy
Jones-Boggs Rye, Ed.D., R.R.T.; Erna L. Boone, M.Ed., R.R.T.;
Heather Neal-Rice, M.Ed., R.R.T.; University Arkansas Medical
Sciences, Little Rock, AR. & Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare
System, Little Rock, AR.
Background:
Respiratory Therapists (RT) preceptors provide expert clinical
support for the bedside learning experiences of respiratory care
students. Therapists, employers, educators, and Society are becoming
progressively more attentive to the consequences of a technological
explosion and the growing complexities of the current healthcare
structure. The nation-wide shortage of RTs is a major contributing
factor. RTs are often faced with the catch-22 of short staffing and
mandatory overtime. In the midst of this frenzied work atmosphere,
RTs are being asked to volunteer to perform as preceptors for RT
students. The purpose of this research is to illuminate respiratory
therapists’ lived experiences of preceptorship and to develop
an understanding of the meaning of being a preceptor and of the
preceptor-preceptee relationship during respiratory care clinical
education.
Methods: This qualitative study explored the
attitudes of 45 participants of a respiratory care clinical education
preceptor training program at a large urban children’s
hospital. During the workshops, an open-ended critical-incident
questionnaire was administered. The questionnaire was modeled after
an instrument used by Dunlevy & Wolf in their 1994 study which
explored the clinical learning experiences of allied health
students.1
Results: A phenomeno-logical approach
was applied to study the experiences of those who are involved in an
ongoing experience of preceptorship. Preceptors revealed a need to
discover solutions to the dilemma of finding the time to provide
quality patient care while including the student in one’s daily
workload, as well as increased awareness of the processes of learning
in the clinical environment. Qualitative description of these
clinical preceptors’ perceptions is discussed.
Conclusions:The preceptor-preceptee relationship formed the basis of the
process of teaching and learning in the clinical environment which
incorporated meaning, lived experience, and reflection. Further, it
is demonstrated that preceptorship rewards both the respiratory care
student and the preceptor and that the primary motivation for
clinical teaching is personal satisfaction. Perhaps the most
important implication of the study is that increased workloads on
preceptors may threaten the clinical education of RT students.
Pressures for increased productivity make it less attractive to train
the students if personal productivity is affected. Educational
programs and institutions must monitor the increasing pressures on
their preceptors and ensure that the goals, processes, support, and
rewards for clinical teaching are appropriate.
1Dunlevy CL &
Wolf KN. Clinical learning experiences of allied health students.
AARC Distinguished Papers Monograph. 1994; 3(1):3-10.