Communicating Expectations

Preceptors and students are more productive when expectations are set in advance, and when both parties are clear about roles and responsibilities. As a preceptor, you should communicate expectations at the start of the relationship and when the student arrives at the clinic each day.

Students who receive an orientation discussion and briefings at the start of clinic hours will perform better and get more out of the experience than students who have not been properly prepared.

Before the Student Joins Your Clinic

Before the student begins seeing patients, make sure you conduct an orientation session that includes the following:

• Discuss where they are in their training and what they are expected to do during this rotation.
• Briefly describe the flow of your clinic and what a typical day will look like.
• Share how previous students have been successful.
• Explain what you need from the student (attitudes, behaviors, and actions).
• Tell the student if there will be time for questions in between each visit, at the end of the day or at the end of the week (example: at the end of each workday or every Friday afternoon at a set time).
• Provide essential emails, numbers and contact information so the student always knows who to contact for a variety of needs.
• Show the student your electronic medical record and discuss expectations related to patient documentation.

Daily Pre-Work Briefings

You will want to talk through the expectations of the day, including anticipated challenges or abnormalities to the schedule, review any past issues to prevent a repetition of previous problems, and make sure the student understands his or her role and responsibilities for the day.

Post-Work Debriefing With Students

A key part of communicating expectations is providing feedback regarding student performance. This is essential both for student progress and to avoid frustration in the case the student is not effectively handling patients.

• Choose a time to de-brief (after each patient visit, at the end of the day, at the end of the week) and be consistent so the student knows what to expect.
• Develop a template for debriefings to facilitate quick and simple communication about how patient visits went and what changes should happen.
• Keep debriefings short and positive.
• Be specific about changes that need to happen.
• If the student repeats mistakes, devote time to discussing the problem and identifying a strategy for improvement.
• Deliver serious or significant strategies for improvement in writing.

For inspiration on how to effectively debrief, watch this video created by the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties.

But My Clinic is So Busy!

We recognize that it can be challenging to communicate while juggling the many demands of your clinic. Ask students to arrive early enough for the daily briefing to happen instead of trying to squeeze the discussion after the clinic is already bustling with patients.

If you find daily briefing and debriefing sessions to be burdensome, try the plan outlined in Managing your Time with the Students. By making a reusable daily briefing tool, you can reduce the amount of time and energy needed to perform daily briefing sessions.

For inspiration, review this video Precepting in a Busy Clinic, created and distributed by The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties. You may pick up some helpful tips that will make precepting easier and more enjoyable. Thank you for working with our students!