Preceptorship in the Ghanaian context

Preceptorship provides the opportunity for preceptors to offer practical experience to nursing students in the clinical setting. The current study was designed to explore and gain insight into preceptorship in Ghana from the perspectives of the key members involved in preceptorship. A focused ethnographic approach was used to conduct this study. Eight nurse educators and nine student nurses participated from a nursing educational institution and nine preceptors participated from the regional hospital in a small Ghanaian city. Two papers were prepared from the findings of the study. The first paper describes how nursing students, preceptors, and nurse educators perceived the concept of preceptorship and the conditions that influenced the teaching and learning environment in clinical settings in Ghana. The second paper highlights findings related to the roles of nursing students, preceptors and nurse educators in preceptorship; preceptor support; lack of equipment in clinical settings and inconsistencies in the evaluation process.