Effectiveness of an online program using telesimulation for academic–clinical collaboration in preparing nurse preceptors’ roles

Aim To evaluate the effectiveness of an online program on nurse preceptors’ knowledge and self‐efficacy in their roles to support students’ clinical education, and to examine their online experience. Background Professional development of nurse preceptors is paramount to fostering work readiness of future graduate nurses on entering the workforce. The support from academic institutions in developing preceptors’ roles in clinical teaching and assessment is pivotal. Design This study employed a mixed‐methods design. Method A total of 59 nurse preceptors from six healthcare institutions participated in an online preceptor program by collaborating with academic educators in facilitating student clinical learning and assessment through telesimulation following web‐based instruction. Pre‐test and post‐tests were administered to evaluate the preceptors’ knowledge and self‐efficacy in their roles. Survey questionnaires and focus group discussions were conducted to evaluate their online experience. SQUIRE 2.0 guidelines were applied. Results The preceptors demonstrated significant improvements (p