Preceptor Responsibilities

N455AC/BC: Transition to Professional Practice Only

In accordance with the Arizona State Board of Nursing Advisory Opinion titled “Preceptorship for basic students in a professional nursing program,” a preceptor is an RN who, while employed by a clinical facility, is assigned to directly supervise a student’s clinical education for the duration of a formal course designed to prepare the student to transition to registered nursing practice. Preceptor responsibilities include the following:

Hold a current RN license to practice nursing in Arizona or a multi-state compact license that is active and in good standing.
Possess clinical expertise appropriate to accomplish the goals of the preceptorship and has at least one year of work experience at or above the level of licensure of the student’s program.
Hold an academic degree at the level or higher than the student’s program whenever possible.
Participate in orientation to the preceptorship.
Participate in faculty/preceptor conferences and communicate with faculty to clarify roles and the nature of the learning experience.
Provide an orientation for the student to the practice area and expectations of nursing care standards
Provide the student with ongoing constructive feedback that relates performance standards to student performance
Precept no more than 1 person per shift. Other students may work with the preceptor when a faculty member is in the facility supervising their activities.
Participate with the faculty and student in the evaluation of the student’s clinical competence (see Forms).

Aspen University School of Nursing & Health Sciences is responsible to orient the Preceptor on the following items:

Mission, goals, and curricular outline of the program.
Student objectives, course objectives and course outline.
Role of the preceptor and faculty.
Performance expectations of the student.
Evaluation responsibilities and standards for the student, course, and preceptor.
Avenues of communication between the program, faculty, preceptor, facility, and student.
Student assignments related to the experience.
Expected initial level of knowledge, skills, and abilities of the student.