Abstract

The problem of lack of nurses can be solved by employing student nurses. Obviously, nurse instructors and preceptors have to work extremely hard to train student nurses to meet the standard of nursing.  The preceptorship model is yet to be explored as to what it means to have an effective program or the requisite skills to be an effective preceptor. The purpose of this study is to explore how competencies and learning methods can improve nurse preceptors. The objectives of this study are to (1) identify the components of nurse preceptors’ competency and their indicators, (2) determine learning method applicable to program development of qualified preceptors, (3) obtain empirical evidence of the degree of the importance of the competencies and indicators to the constituents associated with program development of qualified preceptors. This study is a descriptive survey design. A purposive literature review identified 7 relevant preceptors’ competencies and 23 indicators.  A total of 291 nurses volunteered to complete a questionnaire, indicating support of the desired competencies and preferred learning methods. Findings provide a competency-based model for program development to train nursing student preceptors in Thailand.

Key words: Competency, nurse preceptors, indicators, program development.