A leadership opportunity for newly graduated nurses: Becoming a preceptor for a student nurse

The nursing shortage has been well publicized throughout the nation. Schools of nursing have steadily increased the enrollment of students in the past decade, increasing the supply of registered nurses to care for hospitalized patients. At the same time, numerous authors have cited startling findings about institutions' ability to retain newly graduated nurses in the work force.;The purpose of this project was to provide a leadership opportunity for newly graduated nurses by preparing them to become preceptors of student nurses from their former university. The surveyed perceptions of student nurses and preceptors in this project ranged from 4.05 to 4.82 on a 5-point Likert-type scale. Student and preceptor perception scores demonstrated significantly higher comfort and confidence ratings after the preceptorship. It is hoped that newly graduated nurses who are given a leadership opportunity early in their nursing careers will be retained in the profession and perceive their experience positively.