The role of the lecturer in practice placements: what do students think?

The importance of providing high quality practice placement experiences has long been a feature of pre-registration nursing programmes. There are a myriad of people who may be involved in ensuring that this is the case, including service providers and educational providers. The role, remit and function of the nurse educator in sustaining the quality of this experience has been revised and refined throughout the history of nurse education. Whilst this has been the topic of much investigation, research and debate, there is a lack of studies which consider the actual experience of the student nurse in relation to the nurse educator in practice. This paper presents a retrospective qualitative study of the experiences of a group of senior student nurses who were involved in a formal, sustained teaching/learning relationship with nurse educators during the first two years of their course. The nurse educator's role was that of a lecturer preceptor who had regular contact with every student in each practice placement. A presentation of the students' experiences will be given supported by actual verbatim accounts, followed by a thematic analysis of their comments. The study concludes that the lecturer preceptor has a diverse, yet crucial role to play in supporting the student experience during practice placements.