The role of preceptorship in supporting final-year nursing students’ transition to clinical practice in Finland
Torsiende, John Lord (2025)
2025
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025111227858
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2025111227858
Tiivistelmä
Successfully preparing final-year nursing students for professional clinical roles is essential in nursing education and workforce development. This thesis explores the role of preceptorship in supporting final-year nursing students in Finland during their clinical practice, using an integrative literature review. A systematic search was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, identifying 742 records across five databases. After screening for eligibility, eleven peer-reviewed articles published between 2015 and 2025 were included in the qualitative analysis. These studies employed qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches, encompassing both Finnish and broader European contexts.
The results demonstrate that structured preceptorship programs have a significant impact on enhancing clinical skills, confidence, and professional readiness. Thematic analysis, based on Braun and Clarke’s framework, identified key themes such as structured support, preceptor preparedness, feedback, and professional adaptation, emphasizing the importance of preceptorship in developing clinical competence and identity. However, challenges remain, including inconsistent assessment standards, variable preceptor preparedness, and limited institutional backing. These findings underscore the need for enhanced collaboration between educational and healthcare institutions to standardize and improve preceptorship practices.
The results demonstrate that structured preceptorship programs have a significant impact on enhancing clinical skills, confidence, and professional readiness. Thematic analysis, based on Braun and Clarke’s framework, identified key themes such as structured support, preceptor preparedness, feedback, and professional adaptation, emphasizing the importance of preceptorship in developing clinical competence and identity. However, challenges remain, including inconsistent assessment standards, variable preceptor preparedness, and limited institutional backing. These findings underscore the need for enhanced collaboration between educational and healthcare institutions to standardize and improve preceptorship practices.