THE PRECEPTOR MODEL OF CLINICAL INSTRUCTION - THE LIVED EXPERIENCES OF STUDENTS, PRECEPTORS, AND FACULTY-OF-RECORD

The preceptor model of clinical instruction will become increasingly p opular due to the cost of undergraduate education, the scholarly deman ds of research and teaching, and an interest in developing new partner ships among students, clinicians, and teachers. It is quite timely,the refore, that nurse researchers reveal the nature and utility of this i nstructional model prior to its widespread use. To that end, hermeneut ic interviews (N=31) were conducted with senior-level undergraduate nu rsing students (n=10), staff nurse preceptors (n=11), and master's and PhD-prepared faculty-of-record (n=10). Employing interpretive phenome nology, the authors identified common meanings, relational themes, and a constitutive pattern designated learning nursing thinking. An exami nation of this pattern and its associated themes may help identify tho se teaching practices that should be extended and those that should be altered.