The Process Involved in International Preceptorship in Undergraduate Nursing Education

• Author / Creator

  McCullough, Karey D

• In undergraduate education, nurse educators have embraced preceptorship as a teaching/learning approach in preparing nursing students for professional practice. As educational institutions broaden their international agenda to include borderless or global nursing placements, a thorough examination of international nursing preceptorship is not only wise but, necessary. The participation of students in an international preceptorship placement focuses on teaching and learning in a social clinical context. The purpose of this study was to examine the socialpsychological process involved in international preceptorship as an approach to teaching and learning and to develop a substantive theory to inform nurse educators in their approach to clinical teaching in the international context. The grounded theory method was used to conduct this study. Participants were drawn from a population of former undergraduate nursing students, faculty advisors, and preceptors who participated in an international preceptorship placement. Constant comparative analysis characteristic of grounded theory was used and the process of leveled coding generated a substantive theory that has the potential to enable educators to empower students in making a cognitive shift in the global learning context. Intrinsic to this process of making a cognitive shift in the global learning context were five major categories or ambient conditions. These categories are: being ready, viewing through a different lens, developing cultural competency, enriching personal growth, and enhancing a professional identity. This process found to be involved in international preceptorship can serve to inform students, faculty, and preceptors as they engage in teaching and learning in the global context. The implications of this study include that the findings can: contribute to the effective preparation of nursing professionals, enhance the educational quality of international preceptorship, generate knowledge that can to contribute to a greater understanding of and provision for international placements in professional disciplines, and foster a more facilitative learning environment in practice professions in the international context.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Preceptorship
  • Grounded Theory
  • Making a Cognitive Shift

• Graduation date

  Spring 2016

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3RN30C9N

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.