Preceptor Resources & Information

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Thank you for agreeing to be a preceptor! You are in a special position to develop our next generation of nurses. The ability to provide support to a growing nurse and the ability to teach through hands-on experience is an asset to our team and its future growth. We are grateful for your participation and hard work.

Preceptors, please note: Do NOT sign preceptor agreements presented by the school/university. Please contact ASC-ClinicalAffiliations@aah.org with any questions.

Preceptor Handbook

Please review the preceptor handbook [PDF]. This document is password protected. Contact our team to obtain the password.

Students are required to sign a 1:1 preceptor document in myClinicalExchange prior to the clinical start.

An in-person or virtual orientation with the instructor, preceptor, and student occurs within one week of the clinical start on-site.

Preceptor Essentials Program

Discuss this course with your leader as this is recommended if you are new to precepting whether with students or new teammates. This course awards contact hours and identifies the following:

  • Role of the Preceptor
  • Communication and accountable learning environment
  • Feedback
  • Available Resources

Additional information is located on the Nursing Hub.

Preceptor Program

Preceptor responsibilities

Precepted student, Instructor, and Preceptor

Requirements

  • In-person or virtual orientation with preceptor, student, instructor, & unit leadership* (certain units require unit leadership)
    • Orientation includes: Distribution of the syllabus and course objectives. Roles and responsibilities of the student, preceptor, and instructor. Number of clinical hours and meeting cadence with the instructor. Contact information will be shared amongst all parties and discuss how/when scheduled touch points will be communicated.
  • 1-2 touchpoints throughout the 1:1 preceptor experience with the student, instructor, and preceptor via phone, email, or virtual/in-person.
  • All charting must be co-signed by the preceptor. All post-licensure students do not receive Epic access; only students providing direct patient care will be granted access to Epic.
  • Refer to the Step 2 document on the Orientation page Orientation for Nursing Clinical Instructors and Students | Aurora Health Care to review access and requirements for students.
  • Refer to the Nurse Student Policy on the Orientation page Orientation for Nursing Clinical Instructors and Students | Aurora Health Care.
  • Refer to the Student Nursing Skill List on the Orientation page Orientation for Nursing Clinical Instructors and Students | Aurora Health Care for pre-licensure nursing students
    • Students cannot administer controlled substances
    • The preceptor must be present for medication administration

Precepting graduate students (RN to BSN, MSN, DNP)

RN to BSN information: Most preceptors must be in a non-clinical role and hold at least a BSN degree in Nursing. Most preceptors cannot be unit-based nurses on shift in direct patient care-providing roles during the student's clinical rotation hours.

Project Preceptors:

If you are working with a graduate-level student who has a project, the preceptor must have detailed knowledge of the student’s project. The project should be within your scope to oversee as the preceptor. If not, a new preceptor should be considered. Protected health information (PHI) access, which includes Epic, is not allowed for student projects done specifically for an academic degree. Students providing direct patient care will be granted access to Epic.

If you are a preceptor of a graduate-level student working on a research project, please review the project checklist.

Computer resources

Preceptors are required to co-sign student charting. Please ensure the following areas have been co-signed by the end of the shift: Flowsheets and MAR. The student should not chart in the Care Plan or Notes. Password-protected tip sheets are below and in the Learning Home (Epic).

Co-signing by the preceptor is only required if the nursing instructor is not on-site.

Contact the following email address to obtain the password for the documents below.

  1. Cosign Student Nurse - QSG [PDF]
  2. Patient Station - Search for patients [PDF]
  3. Student nurse ED cosign tip sheet- WI IL - Sept 2020 [PDF]
  4. Nurse Practitioner student preceptor guide [PDF]

Nursing Skills

The following document outlines what skills may or may not be performed in our organization.

Advocate Children’s Hospital Skills List [PDF]

Student Nurse Skills List (Inpatient) [PDF]

Continuing Health Skills List [PDF]

Student Nursing Assistant Skills List [PDF]

myClinicalExchange

You have been assigned to this student’s clinical rotation in myClinicalExchange (mCE). This HealthStream product manages clinical experiences for all nursing students at our organization. You may login to mCE to view the status of your student if desired. The student will have a “green thumb up” next to their name once they have completed all requirements for the rotation.

As a preceptor, your input in the evaluation process is extremely valuable. Please consider completing the end of semester survey to provide feedback on your student.

You have two ways to complete the survey:

  1. myClinicalExchange (preferred):
    1. Navigate to https://myclinicalexchange.com
    2. Click on "Hospital Staff" at the bottom, left of the page.
    3. Click the "Forgot Password?" link.
    4. The system will prompt you for your log in ID which is your e-mail address from your hospital email account.
    5. Enter the 5-digit number (in the box) you see into the text empty box.
    6. Click Send Email and a temporary link will be sent to your email inbox, which you can use to set up your password.
    7. Once you are logged in, click the cog wheel icon in the upper right corner to select which e-mails you would like to receive from mCE. A brief description of automated e-mails is below. Whichever emails you select, please do not forget to click Save my e-mail preferences at the bottom right.
      1. New Rotation Student – receive an e-mail when a student is scheduled for a Rotation.
      2. Pending Assessment - mCE will send out a notification to the preceptor to complete the end of semester survey.
      3. Rotation In Compliance – receive an e-mail when a student is compliant and ready for their Rotation to start.
      4. Rotation Non-Compliance – receive an e-mail (4 weeks/2 weeks/day of Rotation) when a student is NOT compliant. The student cannot begin the Rotation if they are not in compliance.
      5. Student Compliance Expiry – receive an e-mail (1 month/day of) when a Student has a compliance item expiring (e.g., BLS).
  2. SurveyMonkey (if no access to mCE): click on the semester evaluation section to access the survey.

End of semester evaluation

As a preceptor, your input in the evaluation process is extremely valuable. Please consider completing the end of semester survey to provide feedback on your student.