Nurse Preceptor Leadership: Delegation, Direction, and Learning Styles

This essay explores the role of a nurse preceptor in clinical education, focusing on personal learning styles, delegation versus direction, and strategies for providing feedback to preceptees. The author identifies as a reflector, emphasizing the importance of thinking and reflecting before acting. David Kolb's inferential learning style is incorporated into clinical teaching to encourage critical thinking and evidence-based practice among nursing students. The paper differentiates between delegating tasks, which involves assigning activities based on a nurse's capabilities, and directing, which involves providing guidance and supervision. Effective feedback, based on adult learning principles, is crucial for facilitating student development, with a focus on goal-oriented, relevant, and practical learning. The author aims to provide constructive feedback with evidence-based rationale to improve future clinical performance. The essay highlights how effective communication and constructive feedback support student nurses in becoming skilled professionals. Desklib provides similar solved assignments for students.

Running head: NURSING LEADERSHIP
Nursing leadership
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1NURSING LEADERSHIP
The nurse preceptor plays a unique role in clinical education of nursing students and
supporting student nurse to transition from graduate nurse to a professional nurse (Bott, Mohide
& Lawlor, 2011). This paper provides a discussion on personal learning style as a preceptor and
clarified regarding the difference between direction and delegation as a preceptor. It also
discusses about personal strategies to provide feedback to preceptee.
My personal learning style is that of a reflector as I have the tendency to think before
implementing any activity. I neither act not comment on any issues unless I assimilate the
information nor critically reflect on the issue. I have learnt a lot in my professional career by
reflecting on past activities and identify strength and weakness of my action. This approach has
helped to take the right step towards continuous professional development. The learning style of
reflector influences my teaching process as a receptor too. I have encouraged my preceptees to
develop knowledge through the process of reflection of an experience. I have incorporated
David’s Kolb’s inferential learning style in my clinical teaching encounter to help nursing
students take a stand on the topic, probe for supporting evidence, teach clinical rules to them,
reinforce positive behavior and correct their misinterpretations related to any activity (Bott,
Mohide & Lawlor, 2011). Reflection is one of the aspects of precepting in clinical nursing
education and Broadbent et al. (2014) suggest that preceptors should encourage preceptee’s to
reflect on past experience to deflect negative influence and emphasize positive influences.
The role of nurse preceptor is to delegate clinical activities of nurse and direct them
towards the right action. There is difference in the two roles performed by preceptors. The main
goal of delegating is to assign a clinical activity to a nurse and the preceptors are accountable for
their decision to delegate work. One responsibility for nurse preceptor during delegating is to
ensure that the individual nurse is capable of undertaking the clinical activity without any direct

2NURSING LEADERSHIP
supervision. In contrast, the role of directing is related to providing direct supervision or
direction to a student nurse to perform any activity. The role of directing is related to guidance
role of preceptors as they are meant to provide guidance to nursing students during clinical
learning experience (McClure & Black, 2013). Nurse preceptors use their clinical expertise and
communication skills to facilitate learning and support student nurse to become proficient in
their clinical application of theoretical principle. Preceptors start delegating task to different
students once they are fully aware about the capabilities of the student related to specific clinical
activity.
To facilitate learning among nursing students, providing feedback regarding their skills
and knowledge is also crucial for professional development. I try to provide constructive
feedback to preceptee by focusing on the principles of adult learning. I analyze their actions
based on goal-oriented, relevancy oriented and practical learning style of students. I provide
positive feedback with evidence based rationale so that the student embrace positive skills in
future related to situation (Broadbent et al., 2014). In the same way, I try to correct errors by
nursing students with rational. The main goal of this process of constructive feedback is to
improve future clinical performance of nurse.
The report gave idea about the influence of learning style of role of nurse preceptor. The
process guidance and direction is one of the facilitative roles of nurse preceptors. Effective lines
of communication and process of constructive feedback supports student nurse to evolve a
professional and skilled nurse.

3NURSING LEADERSHIP
References:
Bott, G., Mohide, E. A., & Lawlor, Y. (2011). A clinical teaching technique for nurse preceptors:
the five minute preceptor. Journal of Professional Nursing, 27(1), 35-42.
Broadbent, M., Moxham, L., Sander, T., Walker, S., & Dwyer, T. (2014). Supporting bachelor of
nursing students within the clinical environment: Perspectives of preceptors. Nurse
education in practice, 14(4), 403-409.
Broadbent, M., Moxham, L., Sander, T., Walker, S., & Dwyer, T. (2014). Supporting bachelor of
nursing students within the clinical environment: Perspectives of preceptors. Nurse
education in practice, 14(4), 403-409.
McClure, E., & Black, L. (2013). The role of the clinical preceptor: an integrative literature
review. Journal of Nursing Education, 52(6), 335-341.