Clinical supervision at a magnet hospital : A review of the preceptor-facilitator model

Background: The demand for clinical placements and quality clinical supervision for nursing students remains an international issue. In light of on-going concerns related to recruitment and retention of nurses and constraints on fiscal resources both in education and healthcare, the aim of this review was to compare the “preceptor-facilitator” clinical supervision model used at a Magnet hospital against the “preceptor” and “facilitator” clinical supervision models frequently used in the clinical learning environment in Australia.

Methods: A qualitative-descriptive review was undertaken using first, second and third year undergraduate nursing student evaluations (n = 93). Evaluations were completed during the last three days of students’ clinical placement using an electronic questionnaire. The questionnaire tool used open and closed questions to examine three main concepts: student-preceptor supervision; student-facilitation supervision; and the clinical learning environment.

Findings: Three main themes emerged from the review. Firstly, how undergraduate nursing students highly valued the facilitator-student relationship; secondly, the importance of “support” as being an integral part of students’ clinical learning experience and thirdly; the recognition of students being considered as part of the health care team and a valued contributor towards patient care.

Conclusion: The preceptor-facilitation model described and evaluated in this review offers an excellent clinical supervi-
sion framework to support, nurture and foster a positive clinical learning environment for nursing students. This model of clinical supervision strategically aims not only to provide nursing students with high quality clinical supervision but offers nurses a supportive environment as preceptors and professional development opportunities through clinical facilitation. This review does highlight that there is a need for more research regarding the use of the preceptor-facilitator model to include the perspectives of both education and healthcare providers.