Experience Based Co-Design: Preceptorship Education Programme focusing on the development of Interpersonal and Communication Skills for Preceptors

Background: A fundamental component of clinical nursing education is the 'preceptorship relationship', a predetermined short fixed-term relationship between a staff nurse (preceptor) and student nurse involving the delivery of patient care within a clinical environment. Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills are essential to developing successful and constructive professional relationships (Ke et al., 2017). However, the literature shows that discord can arise within the preceptor-student relationship due to poor interpersonal and communication skills (Dyess & Sherman, 2009; Gardiner & Sheen, 2016; Omer & Moola, 2019). A systematic scoping review identified that current preceptorship education programmes lack focus on developing interpersonal and communication skills associated with nursing preceptorships. Another notable limitation of current preceptorship education programmes is the lack of patient representation. Patients are at the centre of preceptorship relationships; therefore, their inclusion is vital. For these reasons, this project co-designed and co-produced an innovative preceptorship education programme focusing on developing interpersonal and communication skills. Methods: An Experience Based Co Design (EBCD) process was implemented involving a co-design team (n=26) of nurses, students, patients, nursing, and educational and design specialists to develop an innovative educational programme. To a) identify key "touchpoints" to determine what students, preceptors and patients liked about their experiences of a nursing preceptorship, what worked well for them in generating positive interpersonal relationships or what caused anxiety or adverse reactions in the professional relationship. Furthermore, b) to co-design and co-produce an innovative preceptorship education programme with students, preceptors, patients and experts, incorporating experiential knowledge (touchpoints) and scientific knowledge (literature and expert-based knowledge) applying a user-centred design EBCD approach. Results: An innovative blended learning educational programme consisting of 6 online learning units focusing on interpersonal and communication skills principles in a nursing preceptorship, psychological safety, teaching, feedback, and conflict resolution was created. Followed by one day of face-to-face simulations incorporating role-play scenarios and a state-of-the-art virtual reality simulation. Conclusion: The EBCD process ensured that the educational programme was developed to meet student, preceptor and patient viewpoints associated with fostering positive interpersonal relationships in a nursing preceptorship. This project suggests that EBCD is a valuable framework for developing human-centred educational resources that combine experiential knowledge (touchpoints) and scientific knowledge (literature-based knowledge), creating an authentic and memorable learning experience.