Doctor of Nursing Practice Program

• Committee Chair Name & Credentials:
  Ty Williams, DNP, RN, ACNP-BC, FNP-BC, CNE
• Committee Member Name & Credentials:
  Megan Shifrin, DNP, ACNP-BC, FAANP
  Ruth Kleinpell, PhD, RN,FAAN 

DNP Project Abstract

Precepting Advanced Practice Providers

Purpose
Although Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) are a fundamental part of health care delivery in the United States, limited data are available to describe the incentives, barriers, or motivations associated with the preceptor role. The purpose of this project was to analyze data collected from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) Preceptorship Support Committee's anonymous APP survey and complete a thematic analysis to evaluate incentives, barriers, and motivating factors to APP preceptorship.

Methods
An anonymous survey was deployed to over 1,300 APPs employed by VUMC utilizing Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) electronic data capture tools hosted at VUMC. The survey link was included in a VUMC email to over 1,300 APPs within the medical system and was open from April 6, 2021, to April 26, 2021. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis.

Results
295 narrative responses from 154 individuals were recorded. Major themes extracted included the desire for preceptor incentives, open communication, protected teaching time, preceptor training, meaningful recognition, and organizational support.

Implications for Practice
Although preceptors overwhelmingly desired financial compensation, there were many other motivating factors which can be fostered and promoted to support additional economic interventions, such as meaningful recognition and organizational support. Barriers cited by preceptors, such as poor communication and lack of preceptorship education, suggested straight-forward interventions. In the future, researchers should investigate how to successfully incorporate preceptorship duties into the APP role while balancing clinical and professional responsibilities.