Introduction:

As a faculty member, you have a number of clinical preceptors working under your direction. In this task you will first develop a set of guidelines for conducting a performance appraisal for these preceptors. You will then develop an incentive program to reward preceptor performance. Finally, you will be asked to deal with two different issues that involve two of your preceptors.

Scenario 1: You have a new group of clinical preceptors who report to you on the medical surgical unit. Within the first two weeks on the unit, one of your preceptors has arrived late three days in a row. On further investigation you find that the preceptor has told the students to go ahead and start the patient?s care alone. This is the first medical surgical experience for this cohort of students.

Scenario 2: Often nurses who are preceptors are RNs but do not have a BSN. The hospital is applying for magnet status and is encouraging RNs to continue their education and obtain their BSNs. One of your preceptors has just spoken to you about wanting to go back to school to complete an education. The preceptor is a full-time nurse at the hospital and supports a family, and therefore cannot take time off to go back to school at the local university.

Task:

A. Write a brief orientation and development guide (suggested length of 3?4 pages) for the preceptors.
1. Discuss the role of a preceptor.
2. Explain the guidelines for working one-on-one with the students using a competency-based approach.
3. Explain the supervision of students, including ethical and legal issues.
4. Explain the reporting requirements for preceptors.

B. Develop a set of guidelines (suggested length of 1?2 pages) for a performance appraisal of the preceptors at the end of the students? rotation.
1. Discuss the baseline measurements/parameters that will be used to evaluate the preceptors.
2. Explain the consequences of the performance appraisal.

C. Develop an incentive program with limited funding available to reward preceptor performance.

D. Design a performance improvement plan for the preceptor who arrives late, based on the issues in the first scenario.

E. Create a plan for addressing the preceptor?s specific educational needs in the second scenario.

F. When you use sources, include all in-text citations and references in APA format.