NURSE PRECEPTOR PROGRAM BUILDER: TOOLS FOR A SUCCESSFUL PRECEPTOR PROGRAM
Brian Rogers, HCPro, 200 Hoods Lane, P.O. Box 1168, Marblehead, MA 01945, tel.: (800) 650-6787; fax: (781) 639-7857; e-mail: http://www.hcpro.com ISBN 1-57839-327-2, 2003, paperback book and handbook and compact disc $199.00, videotape $269.10
Does your organization need an integrated approach to prepare preceptors to succeed in their roles? Brian Rogers offers a multimedia approach that not only guides organizations in building preceptor programs but also provides nurses with the skills necessary to function successfully in the preceptor role. This package includes a paperback trainer's book, a CD-ROM, a handbook for preceptors, and a training videotape.
The 11 chapters in the trainer's book begin with establishing a preceptor program and end with competency validation and providing feedback. It is straightforward and helpful to those who have not initiated a formalized preceptor program at their institution. The author provides details for designing a preceptor workshop and includes three sample outlines, each with different time frames. The author also includes the teaching content of each of the concepts to be presented in the preceptor workshop. The CD-ROM contains copies of all of the forms presented in the book, making it simple to customize a preceptor program.
The handbook, The Effective Nurse Preceptor Program, is designed to be distributed to preceptors. Capturing the essential content of the trainer's book, the handbook is a handy reference for preceptors.
The videotape, Nurse Precepting: A Video Guide to Effective Mentoring, provides a 20-minute overview that outlines the role and responsibilities of preceptors, how to apply adult learning principles, how to validate nursing competencies, and how to evaluate performance and give feedback. The videotape could successfully be used to train assistant preceptors or those clinicians who fill in when the trained preceptor is unavailable. As a stand-alone training resource, the videotape falls short of providing the depth of material that is necessary in teaching nurses to be successful preceptors.
The Nurse Preceptor Program Builder provides a comprehensive program from which to build a preceptor program or revitalize an existing program. Precepting concepts are presented in a thoughtful and well-organized manner, ensuring ease of use. The addition of a CD-ROM significantly increases efficiency in customizing forms for use with different organizations. Rogers has developed a creative and dynamic program that provides a flexibility of use that has not been seen in other preceptor program literature.