HealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
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View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
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View All ProductsDeliver custom or industry designed product training directly to patient and resident care environments to reinforce proper use.
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View All ProductsIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream leverages medical professional development in healthcare by providing staff training programs
View All ProductsCreate engaging and impactful learning experiences that meet the unique needs of your acute care staff.
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View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
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View All ProductsMitigate risk and elevate your quality of care. Improving both clinical and business outcomes starts with a smarter, more integrated approach to regulatory training, continuing education and quality management.
Learn MoreA successful preceptorship program offers a supportive environment in which nurses of all skill levels can become clinically competent and emotionally adjusted over a condensed time period. According to the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN), “Preceptorships are designed to ensure competency: the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to function in a specific role.” A well-developed preceptorship helps the new nurse successfully enter his/her unit and make sense of hospital and patient care routines while receiving important training and education. A preceptorship helps the new clinician become acculturated to the organization by introducing him/her to social norms and communicating the unwritten rules that inform every organization. A preceptorship also offers three very significant benefits:
1. Creates a Strong Learning Base.
Research shows that the majority of new graduate nurses are not prepared for clinical rounds when they start their first job. One study finds that only 10 percent of nurse executives feel that new graduate nurses are sufficiently competent to deliver care. (Trepanier, Early, Ulrich & Cherry, 2012) Preceptorships ensure nurses are competent to function in their role by the end of the onboarding process, and also set reassigned and novice nurses on strong learning tracks. Additionally, preceptorships teach new nurses how to turn on their critical thinking skills by taking them through specific clinical decision-making processes. A study in The Journal of Advanced Nursing found that a preceptor’s use of contextual learning stimulated critical thinking in preceptees when it came to organizing and carrying out tasks, and doing intentional, reflective thinking. (Forneris & Peden-McAlpine, 2009) At the same time, nurse preceptors also benefit from the experience and are more likely to improve their own knowledge and job performance through the unique process of assessing, guiding and evaluating preceptees. (Paton & Binding, 2009)
2. Moves Quality to Front of Mind.
Preceptorships create an opportunity to educate new nurses on important quality initiatives. In a study of 434 nurse graduates, more than one-third of participants stated that they were “poorly” or “very poorly” trained on quality improvement, or had never heard the term. (Kovner, Brewer, Yingrengreung, & Fairchild, 2010) Preceptorships and specific role modeling can influence performance on important quality measures, which ultimately affect hospital reimbursement. Research shows that when given a role model, new nurses are more apt to follow important behaviors, such as proper hand hygiene, which is critical to reducing nosocomial infections. For instance, when critical care fellows and nurse orientees in a children’s hospital were paired with a supervising physician/ preceptor, respectively, who followed strict hand hygiene guidelines, the new clinicians increased their own hand washing practices by an average of 34 percentage points. (Schneider, et al., 2009) To further support this point on a more general level, the AACN’s preceptor training course, “The preceptor challenge…” encourages preceptors to teach new nurses a detailed and systematic approach to prioritizing their clinical responsibilities in order to reduce the chances of causing a fatal error.
3. Boosts Employee Satisfaction and Retention.
Preceptorships help bond employees to the organization and set the stage for long-term job satisfaction and increased retention rates. (PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute, 2007) New graduate nurses comprise roughly 10 percent of the nurse workforce in acute care settings. (Trepanier, Early, Ulrich & Cherry, 2012). They are vitally important to maintaining staffing levels, especially given the continuing nursing shortage. At the same time, research shows that between 13 percent and 75 percent of new graduate nurses leave their first jobs within one year for a variety of reasons, including the hospital culture and frustration at not being adequately prepared for their clinical role. (Trepanier, Early, Ulrich & Cherry, 2012)
A well-executed preceptorship can make a dramatic difference in turnover rates. For example, hospitals whose nurses participated in a one-year nurse residency program—developed by the University HealthSystem Consortium and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing—experienced a 96 percent retention rate. Reports show that the program is saving hospitals more than $6 million a year in turnover costs for first-year nurses. (Krsek, 2011) On the other hand, having to continually replace brand-new nursing staff due to satisfaction issues can drive up staffing costs very quickly. Every percentage point increase in nurse turnover costs an average hospital about $300,000 annually.
Learn more about HealthStream clinical development solutions.
References
AACN. (2013). AACN: The preceptor challenge: The AACN Preceptor Development Program.
Kovner, C., Brewer, C., Yingrengreung, S., & Fairchild, S. (2010). New nurses’ views of quality improvement education. The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, (36)1, 29-35.
Krsek, C. (2011). Investing in nursing retention is a smart move in today’s economy. American Nurse Today, (6)4.
Paton, B., & Binding, L. (2009). Keeping the center of nursing alive: A framework for preceptor discernment and accountability. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, (40)3, 115-120.
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute. (2007). What works: Healing the healthcare staffing shortage. Accessed August 2013: http://www.pwc.com/us/en/healthcare/publications/what-works-healing-the-healthcare-staffing-shortage.jhtml.
Schneider, J. et al. (2009). Hand hygiene adherence is influenced by the behavior of role models. Pediatric Care Medicine, (10)3, 360-363.
Trepanier, S., Early, S., Ulrich, B., & Cherry, B. (2012). New graduate nurse residency program: A cost-benefit analysis based on turnover and contract labor usage. Nursing Economics, (30)4, 207-214.
HealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All Learning & PerformanceHealthStream offers performance learning management solutions to help develop your healthcare staff into leaders and reduce turnover.
View All ProductsHealthStream works with healthcare organizations to create engaging and high-quality training videos for your staff and management.
View All ProductsImprove care quality and save money by making informed decisions about your healthcare facility and staff with HealthStream's reporting analytics solution.
View All ProductsHealthStream's proven methods for the improvement and overall engagement of your healthcare staff foster a positive workplace and increase retention rates.
View All ProductsThe leadership development program from HealthStream helps mold your high-potential healthcare employees into proven leaders.
View All ProductsWhen you enact HealthStream's quality compliance solutions, you can do so with the confidence your healthcare organization will meet all standards of care.
View All Quality & ComplianceFulfill compliance requirements with a variety of programs and courseware designed to address critical regulatory requirements as well as educate staff to recognize and mitigate risks.
View All ProductsBy increasing your healthcare staff's focus on quality and safety with HealthStream, they can help to reduce medical errors and readmission rates.
View All ProductsLearn about what HealthStream's healthcare policy management software and how it can help aid your organization efforts.
View All ProductsHealthStream's education helps address diversity, equity, and inclusion within your organization, as well as promoting health equity in the communities you serve.
View All ProductsHealthStream offers professional training and education on how to best optimize your reimbursement process within your healthcare organization.
View All ReimbursementTeach your healthcare staff about the revenue cycle and claim management through targeted training and video tools from HealthStream.
View All ProductsLearn about our advanced resuscitation training solutions. Our solutions are designed to help improve patient outcomes.
View All ResuscitationIn all areas of resuscitation, from neonatal to elderly care, clinical deterioration is a risk that can be avoided with the help of HealthStream's training programs.
View All ProductsNurture the skills of your nurses and medical staff to help mold them into effective leaders with development training from HealthStream.
View All ProductsExpand the decision-making skills and effectiveness of your healthcare workforce with HealthStream's clinical development programs and services.
View All Clinical DevelopmentMake sure your clinicians have the support they need to provide competent care with clinical competency training and development from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s learning management system and comprehensive suite of competency management tools empower your healthcare workforce to deliver the best patient care.
View All ProductsThe suite of healthcare onboarding solutions available from HealthStream aids in nurse retention and improved patient outcomes.
View All ProductsGive your healthcare staff the decision support and skills training they need with the online products available from HealthStream.
View All ProductsHealthStream leverages medical professional development in healthcare by providing staff training programs
View All ProductsLearn more about HealthStream's provider credentialing, privileging, & enrollment solutions for healthcare organizations.
View All CredentialingExperience standardized and centralized healthcare provider credentialing, privileging, and enrollment that is smarter and faster than ever before.
View All ProductsAutomated, web-based provider credentialing and enrollment software for growing medical groups.
View All ProductsNCQA-certified CVO verification services for initial and re-credentialing files in an overflow or full-service capacity for healthcare organizations.
View All ProductsSearch, review, and add providers into the Epic provider master file with our Epic app integration, Provider Validate.
View All ProductsMake sure your healthcare staff can schedule out appointments and work schedules with ease using HealthStream's line of software solutions.
View All SchedulingHealthcare scheduling software designed to optimize staffing requirements & elevate patient care
View All ProductsPrecisely align staffing and needed resources to enable efficient patient flow and high-quality, cost-effective patient care.
View All ProductsHealthStream’s free nurse schedule app, NurseGrid™, is built to help you care for your staff and engage with their specific needs.
View All Products