College of Nursing, Gulf Medical University was requested by the Training & Development Centre, Emirates Health Services to conduct a 2 day ‘Preceptorship Development Program’ for 200 EHS nurses to cater to the needs of senior nurses in UAE. The aim of this program is to equip senior nurses to hand hold and guide newly qualified graduate nurses and students as they learn to practice their profession in the clinical areas. In the long run the impact of this program will be seen in both the preceptors and preceptees. The competencies of preceptees will improve and thus enhance overall quality of patient care.
College of Nursing, GMU will host this Preceptorship Development Program over eight weeks (16th September 2021 to 12th November 2022) on Fridays & Saturdays for 240 nurses from EHS & GMU (Thumbay Hospitals). The venue will be at LH 18, GMU, E-Learning Centre. The program consists of presentations, discussions, sharing of experiences, videos, exercises & reflections. The exercises are in the form of case scenarios, reflections, games, quizzes and brain storming activity which enhances interaction & sharing experiences among participants. Pre-test will be conducted on Day 1 and Post-test on Day 10 to assess knowledge and perception and at 6 months assessment post training to assess competency. The sessions will be taken by College of Nursing faculty, Group CNO, Thumbay Health Divisions, and faculty from other colleges of GMU, College of Medicine, College of Dentistry & College of Pharmacy, in order to have inputs from senior faculty and enhance Interprofessional education.
The first Cohort of training commenced on 16th & 17th September 2022; 21 nurses from EHS and 4 nurses from Thumbay Hospitals, Ajman attended the training. The day began at 8.30 and concluded at 4pm on both days. Fourteen sessions, with topics on Roles of preceptor & preceptee; confidence, self-awareness & motivation, effective communication, conflict resolution, problem solving, time management, controlling anxiety, teamwork, integrating prior learning, critical thinking, evidence-based practice, principles of adult learning, assessing competencies, reflective practice & constructive feedback & evaluation.
Feedback was taken from the participants, who expressed that the workshop was very helpful in moulding them in the role of preceptors, which they will adapt in their practice.
