Preceptorship Programme
A lot of work has gone into the support of students within Social Care and the development of preceptorship at Exemplar Health Care. This has been to attract nurses into the sector, to support with the workforce and give them an understanding of what careers in Social Care entail, opportunities for progression and development and support available as a newly qualified, return to practice or internationally educated nurse. A 6-week supernumerary period is given to work alongside the preceptor, to work through a structured programme to gain skills, knowledge and competencies relevant to that service. This ensures a supported transition into the role and an understanding of the responsibilities in complex care to be a safe, efficient and competent autonomous professional.
Organisational Details
Exemplar Health Care is a leading provider of complex care across England. We currently have 58 services supporting adults over the age of 18 who are living with complex mental and physical health needs – we also have four registered learning disability services.
We have a team of around 868 registered staff. 17 of these being registered nursing associates and 19 current preceptorship nurses. This is not inclusive of registered home managers of which we have 56 and the majority are also registered nurses. We also employ just over 3400 care staff.
We supported 41 preceptorship nurses in the last financial year and plan to continue to build on this in the year ahead.
We commit to meet the growing demand for complex care and to continuously improve our services, adapting to the ever-changing needs of the communities we serve.
Our mission is to ‘make every day better’ for adults living with complex needs, and the incredible colleagues who support them.
Our vision is for everyone we support to live a life of dignity and independence, connected to their loved ones, with care that meets their holistic needs and helps them achieve their goals.
Our services are nurse led and support people with high acuity needs.
Care is individualised and person centered, including staffing levels based on individual need, collaboratively working with people around managing illness and conditions, but also empowering them to live meaningful lives and achieve their goals.
Description
The programme we have is structured but will suit a variety of learning needs, training and skills that are specifically required for the environment that person will be working in. The current programme specifically supports nursing and nursing associate’s but work is currently ongoing to develop this for AHPs. Staff members undertaking preceptorship are considered preceptees for 12 months. In this time they will build on knowledge, skills and confidence, accessing training and receive more regular supervision every 6 – 8 weeks. The first 6 weeks of their employment is supernumerary. During this time, they will be buddied up with an experienced professional who can guide, supervise and coach them through the role. They are issued with a preceptorship document which details what is expected, who we are as an organisation – our vision and values, accountability, role responsibilities, clinical competencies, feedback, reflection and supervision.
What makes it stand out?
The preceptee receives on the job support to work and learn within the environment they are employed, for a 6 week supernumerary period of time. They can safely learn about people they will be supporting, processes, policies and systems in place before managing this autonomously. The current model looks at understanding the organisational values and ethos and gives a true representation of the opportunity to progress a career in Social Care environments.
Support and Learning for Preceptees
Learning time is protected by use of supernumerary hours for the first 6 weeks of the preceptorship period – working alongside an experienced registered professional to have the time to learn systems, processes and policies safely. The learning will include some digital training modules prior to commencing in role and supernumerary hours. Further face-to-face specialist training and competency assessments will be carried out once commenced in the role. There is ongoing learning, development and progression opportunities through the Exemplar Health Care Academy, as well as via the RCNi platform, apprenticeships, and in services. There are opportunities to champion areas of practice and support junior and student staff members as they progress within the role. All registered nurses and nursing associates will be required to attend an internal leadership programme to support the level they are working at and will progress with this if they chose to work in more senior roles. Clinical Nurse Managers and Unit Managers have engaged in their leadership pathways. There is currently a pilot programme for registered nurses which will be rolled out across the organisation later this year.
Support and Learning for Preceptors
Preceptorship training is delivered internally within the same session as we train staff to support students coming into our services for placement. This looks at preceptorship support on the back of this and the differences between supporting students and preceptees. This is run every week via Teams by the practice education facilitator, supported by drop in clinics for further advice and support weekly. The training lasts around 3 hours and all registered staff have to attend this 2 x yearly. A minimum of 12 hours protected time annually is allocated to each preceptor (inclusive of training) to carry out preceptorship responsibilities.
Pastoral support and advice can be sought through the Head of Nursing and Practice Education Facilitator.
The Practice Education Facilitator holds a monthly drop-in clinic for preceptees and preceptors who can drop in for support, advice, sharing of best practice and networking.
All nursing staff have the opportunity to develop through leadership modules, apprenticeships, and additional learning.
Inclusion and Equity
The programme is designed to support return to practice nurses and internationally educated/recruited nurses as well as newly qualified nurses and nursing associates currently. There is an element of flexibility regarding the support and supernumerary time required, which can be discussed and amended on a case by case basis with the service and regional director for people who may require some further or additional support. This also applies to training, supervision, reflection and feedback. Adjustments can be made to ensure that the colleague is supported in the correct way which should be discussed in initial conversation and planning for the preceptorship period.
Next Steps and Vision
We are working to get a quality mark approved for the preceptorship document: we are currently working with the team following the re-introduction of this as part of an early implementers pilot phase.
The current programme so far has been for nursing and nursing associates, however more recently in the organisation we have recruited physiotherapists. The Head of Nursing and Therapy Consultant will be working together to ensure the preceptorship programme is inclusive of AHPs.
Evidence of impact
Nursing Times Workforce Awards ‘Preceptee of the year’ winner in 2024. Jenna Stocks, a newly qualified registered nurse at Exemplar Health Care, from Yarningdale in Codnor, Ripley won this award in London against many other finalists. I believe we were the only social care provider to win an award this year.
Choosing to work in social care as a newly qualified nurse, Jenna shares with us her experience and the importance of preceptorship.
My experience as a preceptee has really prepared me for the position I am to fulfill, and I really do not think I would have been the nurse I am today without this crucial time as I began my journey. My preceptorship provided me with 12 weeks fully supported by the experienced team, giving me the opportunity to learn what was required of me within this role. This enabled me to work alongside longtime nurses whom I could observe to learn how a day/shift should run, and most importantly, have someone introduce me to the service users that really knew each individual. This gave me insight into everybody and gave me time to build those important therapeutic relationships with everyone. Having a strong nurse/person relationship requires good communication, mutual understanding, trust, and this will not happen overnight. It takes time to build these relationships and learn about each individual.
This time also allowed me to complete all my mandatory training at a pace that was comfortable and not too overwhelming. Not once did I ever feel such a way.
As a preceptee, I felt supported, understood and most importantly listened to. Speaking up for yourself can be a very daunting task, especially in new environments and around new people. As a newly qualified nurse, not only do you have to battle the daily anxieties and worries around being able to fulfil the position you have spent so many years studying, working and preparing for. It takes some incredible strength and courage from within to take that leap and to believe that you can do this. The transition from student to nurse is an overwhelming experience to say the least. As much as university prepares you for this day. The real work begins when you start that preceptorship program and most importantly how your team supports and helps you to navigate through this at the start of your nursing journey. Not once during my preceptorship have I felt unsupported. This definitely shone through when the opportunity arose to speak at a clinical nursing conference; everybody involved in that day who was a part of the Exemplar team was so supportive, encouraging and inspiring. I was reassured and told stories of how they felt when first having to stand up and speak in front of others.
Whilst completing my nursing degree I never wanted to have a social care placement, I had a very negative perception of social care due to the horrific stories I had heard whilst being taught in university and by the media. I had never really heard anything positive., Whilst working on the wards nurses would express what they felt about social care saying newly qualified nurses need ward experience and working in care homes de-skills you and there is a lack of career progression. During 3rd year, we had the chance to have an elective placement and not one of my suggestions was a care home placement. However, this is what I received. I really was not happy and tried my best to change this. Nevertheless, I had to go.
When attending this placement, I was surprised how much I enjoyed my first day, this had been one of my best placements to date. During my time, I really loved how well you get to know the individuals you care for and how well relationships form, this really does improve the care you deliver and how you can advocate for somebody. You become one big family. Some days can be hard, but most days are full of laughter, joy and smiles and I have never experienced this before whilst being a student. I had always envisioned qualifying and working on a ward within the NHS. I am so glad I have become a social care nurse, and I love working with student nurses telling my story and hopefully inspire other future nurses to come on board.”
Challenges and Lessons learned
Understanding of what is on offer for careers in Social Care, that there are processes like preceptorship available. We have seen an increase in applications from newly qualified nurses but this is more recent and has not always been the case.
Region/nation: England
Setting: Social care and residential
Professional Groups Involved: Nursing, Nursing Associates, and AHPs
Part of a recognised framework: Yes: National Preceptorship and AHP Framework
Is this mandated in your organisation? Yes
Executive Sponsor for Preceptorship: Clinical Director
