Preceptorship – how we support each other

27th October 2025

Preceptorship – What if the key to the workforce issues facing the healthcare sector and nursing lies in how we support each other?

We were delighted to host a special webinar on 22 October 2025 to celebrate the first anniversary of the UK-wide iHV Preceptorship Framework for Health Visiting.

We are pleased to share this Voices blog by Colleen Ryan, Senior Lecturer and Head of Professional Practice at Central Queensland University, Australia. Colleen’s work involves collaborating with clinical partners, researching and publishing  how nurses and students experience learning during placements. Colleen is passionate about developing educational interventions that help nurses thrive in clinical environments.

Preceptorship

In Australia, preceptors are typically bedside Registered Nurses (RNs) who support students during placements. Their primary focus is patient care, and they act as role models. For newly graduated nurses, formal preceptorship occurs through Transition to Practice Programmes (TTPPs). Preceptor roles and programmes primarily focus on developing nursing psychomotor/technical skills. Few focus on psychosocial skills such as communication, critical thinking, wellbeing and emotional intelligence.

In 2024, I presented a webinar for University Connecticut and University Massachusetts on a preceptorship role competency framework. Following that experience, I began to understand that preceptorship in Australia is different to that in the UK and US.

I began to think that preceptorship could be much more. Historically, preceptorship is described as a time-definitive relationship to teach new staff skills and enculturate them. Traditional supernumerary educator roles supporting new staff are costly and the preceptor role is becoming more popular for recruitment and retention reasons.  With an emerging focus on understanding what is quality of clinical education in Australia, and in the UK, I wondered if there was a need to look at developing evidence-based organisational approaches to extend preceptorship in Australia. These approaches could prioritise the support function of the preceptor as recent work has reported  ‘support’ is a key quality indicator for clinical learning. Is it possible preceptorship (support) is the secret ingredient for all staff flourishing in their roles? I decided to visit the UK to learn more.

Encountering the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) Preceptorship Framework

Whilst preparing for visiting the UK, I discovered two organisational approaches that I wanted to explore further: 1) the NHS Preceptor Quality Mark and 2) the Institute of Health Visiting (iHV) UK Preceptorship Framework for Health Visiting. The iHV framework especially resonated with me and the socio-constructive and transformative learning theories I use in my own work:

• Stepwise scaffolding model: Growing, Embedding, Thriving (GET)
• Focus on autonomy and individualised experiences
• Clear guidance for implementation

Before leaving Australia, I joined the iHV as a member. Some information is not always relevant to me as I am not a health visitor, a Child and Family nurse, or a midwife. Still, reading the information is inspirational, for example the recent Explainer Series has provided ideas for different ways of presenting information to different groups.

Insights from Engaging with iHV Preceptors and Preceptees

Meeting Amanda Holland, Professional Education, Learning and Development Lead at the iHV, along with iHV members and education leads in practice has been a highlight. Their generosity in sharing insights was invaluable. Amanda kindly arranged for me to hear more about how the Framework was developed and is being implemented across the 4 UK nations. I kindly thank Betheny Oakes-Swindon, Marian Judd – Wiltshire (iHV Preceptorship Framework for Health Visiting co-author), Barbara Keenan – Northern Ireland, and Tania Ferguson – Scottish Borders, for taking the time to meet with me virtually, sharing their developments in health visiting preceptorship.

I visited Kathryn Stark, Hull 0-19 Integrated Public Health Nursing Service and her team, including preceptee Kristy. Kristy shared that without preceptor support, especially the flexibility of the relationship and opportunities to problem solve safeguarding issues, she may have struggled to transition into the role so well, despite being an experienced RN.

Another highlight was spending a day with Beth Oakes and Jen Cantellow from the Swindon Borough 0-19 Child and Family Health Service. Beth and Jen explained how preceptorship has been embedded over the past 5 years in the service and how the iHV Preceptorship Framework is being used to further strengthen the Swindon programme. Listening to them, I thought the iHV Framework is the perfect wraparound, an all-encompassing approach for organisations to review and streamline their preceptorship programmes. The Swindon preceptors and preceptees, described the programme as flexible, supportive, and aligned with organisational values – a true testament to its success. Congratulations to Beth and Jen for enabling shared understanding of their organisational preceptorship programme, this was exciting to hear.

The iHV Preceptorship Framework for Health Visiting exemplifies how structured, evidence-based support can empower staff and improve retention. I’m inspired to bring these learnings back to Australia and advocate for a broader, theory-informed model of preceptorship – one that supports not just students, but all nurses and midwives in their professional journey. I want to transform and advance preceptorship beyond that of a student/newly registered nurse role.

Let’s keep working to develop preceptorship as a theory-informed practice model for enhancing job satisfaction and career development. In this way all students and all staff may feel welcomed, supported and empowered to flourish as professional practitioners.

Colleen Ryan, Senior Lecturer and Head of Professional Practice at Central Queensland University, Australia

Read our related blog: “Hear Me Roar”: My Journey Through Health Visiting Preceptorship, by Jade McMurray here

Listen to our Podcast episode on Preceptorship

Listen to our special podcast exploring the value of preceptorship where Amanda Holland, iHV’s Professional Education, Learning and Development Lead is joined by colleagues from Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Northern Ireland – Newly Qualified Health Visitor Jade McMurray, Barbara Keenan, Clinical Educator for Health Visiting and Caroline Burnside, Health Visitor and Practice Teacher.
Jade, Barbara and Caroline share their insights and lived experiences around the impact of preceptorship and how the iHV UK Preceptorship Framework for Health Visiting is supporting preceptorship arrangements.