VOICES FROM THE FRONTLINE: EXPLORING THE WANTS AND NEEDS OF ONCOLOGY PRECEPTORS.

Significance & Background: Preceptors play a critical role in onboarding new oncology nurses, yet they often face challenges due to the complexity of oncology care and a lack of formal support. Traditionally, preceptors are selected based solely on experience and convenience rather than interest or...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Oncology Nursing Forum Vol. 53; no. 2; pp. 63 - 65
Autor principal: Choquette, Anna
Formato: Journal Article
Publicado: Oncology Nursing Society Mar2026
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=194211231&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 194211231
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        0190535X
        4F0
      jtl: Oncology Nursing Forum
      issn: 0190535X
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Mar2026
      vid: 53
      iid: 2
      pid: 12496
      pub: Oncology Nursing Society
      place: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    artinfo:
      ui:
        194211231
        10.1188/26.ONF.e26535271
        194211231
      ppf: 63
      ppct: 2
      formats:
        fmt:
          @attributes:
            type: P
      tig:
        atl: VOICES FROM THE FRONTLINE: EXPLORING THE WANTS AND NEEDS OF ONCOLOGY PRECEPTORS.
      aug:
        au: Choquette, Anna
        affil: MSN, RN, OCN, NPD-BC, Duke University Health System - DCI Wake County, Raleigh, NC
      sug:
      ab: Significance & Background: Preceptors play a critical role in onboarding new oncology nurses, yet they often face challenges due to the complexity of oncology care and a lack of formal support. Traditionally, preceptors are selected based solely on experience and convenience rather than interest or ability, which can impact the quality of orientation. They are also expected to take the same ratios of patients, which leaves less time for education. Purpose: The purpose of this project was to explore the experiences, challenges, and needs of frontline oncology nurse preceptors through key informant interviews, with the goal of developing future training and support initiatives. Interventions: Sixteen registered nurse (RN) preceptors from three outpatient oncology settings participated in nine virtual or in-person key informant sessions using standardized questions. Inclusion criteria required participants to have precepted within the past 12 months. Results: Themes emerged around both the benefits and challenges of precepting. Benefits included relationship-building, trust, pride, and the opportunity to share expertise. Challenges involved lack of incentives, time constraints, unclear expectations, and difficulty providing feedback. Participants emphasized the need for consistent training, structured resources, and better alignment between preceptors and new hires. Discussion: Findings highlight the importance of recognizing diverse learning styles, improving recruitment and matching processes, and fostering a culture of mentorship. Limitations include the exclusion of licensed practical nurses (LPNs) from the respondent pool. Next steps include implementing recurring training, developing checklists and resources, offering incentives, establishing a mentoring program, refining hiring practices, and conducting yearly revalidation and continuous evaluation. Current work is being done to develop quarterly workshops, train-the-trainer sessions and pre-orientation refreshers that include a checklist of expectations and hands-on walkthroughs of documentation requirements.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N