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2020 Strategic Plan Goal 3 Outcomes
Build strategic relationships and partnerships with clinical sites and preceptors, focusing on rural areas.
Precepting During the Pandemic
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The pandemic forced a great deal of change in all walks of life. It changed how we shopped, socialized, traveled, worked, and went to school. FNU prides itself on being adaptable to the health care needs of the country and on preparing our students to be adaptable to the needs of the communities in which they work and live.
That adaptability was tested in many ways. In-person Clinical and Frontier Bounds had to become virtual for the first time in University history. Modifications allowed DNP Quality Improvement projects to be conducted virtually (see story on page 8). Through it all, FNU and its students persisted. Enrollment remained strong and the number of students forced to go on hiatus was limited thanks to the university’s quick response to the pandemic and the financial assistance provided by the Student Emergency Fund (see story on page 24).
Despite working daily on the front lines of the pandemic, FNU graduates also played their part to help the university continue to succeed. Many of these alumni, along with other health care professionals, made the commitment to not only continue their work but also to be a preceptor for an FNU student.
The demand for preceptors is constant, even during a pandemic. On average, an FNU student utilizes three clinical sites in order to complete their requirements. In a typical term, the number of students in clinical courses and in need of preceptors totals anywhere from 800 to 1,000.
Audra Cave FNU’s Clinical Outreach and Placement Unit helps both the students and preceptors navigate the process, even during a pandemic.
“We have a large network of preceptors across the country,” said Director of Clinical Outreach and Placement Stephanie Boyd. “We maintain a Community Map that helps students identify preceptors close to them. We are continually growing our database and recruiting potential preceptors while making sure our existing preceptors understand how much they are valued and appreciated. We try to make the experience for both students and preceptors positive and hassle-free, but we’re also here to help when it’s not so smooth.”
Precepting during the pandemic was anything but smooth. Many hospitals and clinics shut down or were limited to certain personnel, further limiting the options for students. They say necessity is the mother of invention and, while telehealth wasn’t invented during the pandemic, the breadth of its use grew significantly. According to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as the pandemic first took hold in the United States, telehealth visits increased by 154% during the last week of March 2020 compared to the same period in 2019*. This opened a door for some students, who were able to complete some of their clinical hours with their preceptor via telehealth.
“For the students who have found a good situation with a preceptor, it has really been convenient for them to do telehealth from their own home,” said FNU Regional Clinical
Faculty (RCF) Jeff Anderson, DNP, MS, PMHNPBC, who works with Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) students. “We have had students do clinicals in which they stay at home and they log in to a Zoom meeting with the patient and the preceptor. We have also had the situation where the preceptor is still going to their office and the student meets them in their office, so the student and preceptor are both in the office but the patient joins via telehealth.”
FNU recruits preceptors from the following specialties: Certified Nurse-Midwife; Certified Family Nurse Practitioner, Certified Women’s Health Care Nurse Practitioner; and Certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. Understandably, the PMHNP program lends itself better to telehealth than some other specialties, but the increased use of technology was prevalent across all departments and programs.
“Part of what makes FNU unique is our ability to develop a sense of community in the virtual environment and our faculty engage students through a variety of technological platforms,” said PMHNP Department Chair Dr. Jess Calohan, DNP. RCF Audra Cave, DNP, FNP-BC, works at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in Spindale, North Carolina. Despite the many challenges that COVID presented, she continued to serve as a preceptor.
“We had to coordinate protocols for staff and students for how to manage everyone’s safety in the practice, how to manage and create protocols for patients who were exposed and/or positive for COVID, and how to manage the flow of our regular patients,” Dr. Cave said. “We also had to learn how to manage telehealth. All in all, it was a good learning process for us in the clinic and for students.”
In a letter to preceptors. FNU President Dr. Susan Stone expressed her gratitude for their willingness to continue to share their expertise, even during the most trying of times.
“The COVID-19 Pandemic has revealed what we already knew -- that midwives and nurses are invaluable members of healthcare in the United States,” Dr. Stone wrote. “FNU is incredibly proud of our graduates and students who represent all 50 states, providing care to those in need. We are also proud of preceptors like you who continue to give your time and mentorship to help prepare these students who are answering the call to serve.”
“Part of what makes FNU unique is our ability to develop a sense of community in the virtual environment and our faculty engage students through a variety of technological platforms.” -- Dr. Jess Calohan
Jess Calohan
Jeff Anderson As the university continues to grow along with the country’s demand for health care providers, so too will the need for preceptors. Dr. Cave encouraged others to precept by explaining that it is a learning experience for both students and preceptors alike.
“I want to be a preceptor because I get as much from students as I give,” she said. “I learn from students every time I precept. The payoff is that I get to see the end result of a long process of student growth and learning.”
* Koonin LM, Hoots B, Tsang CA, et al. Trends in the Use of Telehealth During the Emergence of the COVID-19 Pandemic — United States, January–March 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:1595–1599. DOI: http://dx.doi. org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6943a3
You only get one chance to make a first impression. For FNU’s advanced-degree nursing students seeking a preceptor, that first impression is often made in person. In 2020, however, the COVID-19 Pandemic limited those face-to-face meetings. As virtual meetings became the new normal, students were faced with the challenge of finding a new way to connect with potential preceptors. Not surprisingly, where others might see only hurdles, FNU students saw opportunities.
Working with FNU’s Clinical Outreach and Placement Unit, students began thinking outside the box in their search for preceptors.
“We started seeing students meeting potential preceptors virtually,” said FNU Clinical Advisor Jamie Wheeler. “We also encourage them to connect with potential preceptors on professional social media outlets such as LinkedIn and to network with other FNU students using our directory and Community Map of preceptors.”
Some students like CNM student Parris-Marie Cannon, BSN, RN created their own personal websites, offering a unique way for preceptors to learn more about the students.
“I met with Carisa Lipp, clinical advisor for the CNEP/WH programs,” she said. “I reached out to her because I am considering relocation and needed broader assistance, rather than regional direction. She was instrumental in getting me started. Because I would be reaching out via email rather than in person, she recommended I compile something that would make an impression. She sent me the link to YouTube videos and websites done by other students for their clinical search.”
Cannon created her own website with her contact information, curriculum vitae, clinical requirements, and information about the benefits of precepting. Her site’s
content also included a personal message about herself and her mission, as well as a one-minute video in which she explained what opportunities she was seeking in a clinical site. While working in Connecticut as an RN at a birth center, she was hoping to secure a site in northern California.
“The clinical site search has been tricky with COVID,” Cannon said. “I appreciate FNU’s assistance knowing my institution supports me.”
Parris-Marie Cannon created her own web page to help prospective preceptors learn more about her.
“The clinical site search has been tricky with COVID. I appreciate FNU’s assistance knowing my institution supports me.” -- Parris-Marie Cannon
Fellow CNEP student Crystal Miller, RN-BSN, also credited the university for providing the resources she needed during her search for a clinical site. The Community Map is one resource students can use to identify potential preceptors in their search radius. Students can create contact lists from this resource.
“I found the Clinical Outreach and Placement Office very helpful in helping me navigate what steps I should be taking next and as a sounding board for my ideas and concerns,” Miller said.
In addition to sending out resumes, Miller also provided potential preceptors with a bit of entertainment. She created
“I coach students on how to market themselves to potential preceptors other than just writing a simple email that gets lost. Finding creative ways to connect with preceptors reveals a bit of their personality and helps set them apart from the crowd.” -- Carisa Lipp
a 60-second video resume on TikTok that included dancing to the Beatles hit “Help” while her qualifications flashed on the screen.
“As a mother of two teenagers, making TikTok videos became a bit of family pastime when we were all hiding in our houses last March,” Miller said. “When it came time to start reaching out to preceptors, I wanted to create something memorable. Especially during COVID quarantine time, when you can’t walk into an office and shake someone’s hand. I wanted to create something that showed my personality. I felt like a TikTok video would be a more entertaining way of displaying my resume and showing a little creativity.
Miller ultimately found a preceptor through a work connection and began her clinicals with Alta View Midwives in Sandy, Utah, last June. Miller now works in the Maternal & Child Services Unit at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.
“I am not sure if the video was a success or not, but it sure was fun to make,” she said.
Videos and websites may well persist as tools to reach potential preceptors, even after the pandemic comes to end. “I coach students on how to market themselves to potential preceptors other than just writing a simple email that gets lost,” Lipp said. “Finding creative ways to connect with preceptors reveals a bit of their personality and helps set them apart from the crowd.”
Alia Alexander, RN, BSN, echoed the need to find the right way to share her message. She started by trying to create a video but found that she felt camera shy and uncomfortable with the video. Her husband suggested she try creating a website instead.
Alia Alexander created a website as part of her efforts to connect with preceptors. Crystal Miller’s family helped her create a fun TikTok video that communicated her search for a clinical site.
“I’m not sure if the website was the deciding factor, but I think it might have helped,” she said. “I found a site and three preceptors at LewisGale Medical Center in Salem, Virginia. It’s been especially difficult to find sites and I want other students to try to stay positive and know that things will work out for the best with a little effort and flexibility.”
While the videos, websites, and other creative ways to reach out to preceptors have proven to be effective tools, there is no denying the challenges that some students face, particularly during the pandemic.
“We know that finding a preceptor can sometimes be a stressful task,” said Clinical Advisor Katie Graves. “We just want to make sure that our students know that we are here to help them any way we can. We have tools and resources to help them conduct their search and are always happy to hear their success stories.”
