Nursing Students' and Nurse Preceptors' Perspectives of an Ambulatory Dedicated Education Unit in Primary Care and General Internal Medicine

Abstract

Background: The sustainability of prelicensure nursing clinical learning models within ambulatory care is dependent on strong partnership and the availability of ambulatory nurse preceptors. Evaluation of preceptor and student satisfaction with ambulatory clinical experiences is necessary to identify program strengths and opportunities. Method: Nursing students' and nurse preceptors' perceptions of an ambulatory dedicated education unit (DEU) in primary care and general internal medicine practices were measured from 2021 to 2023. Results: Students' survey responses indicated a high level of agreement for 20 (90.9%) of 22 items in 2021, 35 (100%) of 35 items in 2022, and 32 (91.4%) of 35 items in 2023. Preceptor responses demonstrated favorable agreement with all of the work-life satisfaction across the 3 years of the survey, with the exception of one question on the 2021 survey. Conclusion: Nursing students and staff nurse preceptors found the ambulatory DEU teaching and learning experience to be positive and satisfying. [ J Nurs Educ . 2024;63(3):171–177.]