Abstract
Introduction: Expatriate professional nurses are professional nurses who migrated to work in different countries than where they trained. The global nurse shortage has made it possible for nurses to leave their home countries, often due to several push factors, and are attracted to host countries by certain pull factors. The hospitals in the host countries employ strategies such as preceptorship to facilitate newly employed nurses’ integration into the culture of the hospital in which they are employed.
Research purpose: The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of expatriate professional nurses’ lived experiences of preceptorship in a tertiary hospital in KSA. Recommendations are offered for the current preceptorship programme based on the experiences participants shared to help expatriate professional nurses adapt to their new caring environment.
Research design and methods: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual design was used to conduct this study. Phenomenological research methods were used to explore the expatriate professional nurses’ experiences of preceptorship in the tertiary hospital under study. Purposive sampling was used to sample expatriate professional who met the inclusion criteria. Jefferson’s transcription of each recorded interview was done, and Colaizzi’s seven-step method of data analysis was then used to analyse the collected data. Lincoln and Guba’s trustworthiness framework was adhered to, and the ethical principles of beneficence, respect for persons, and justice were promoted throughout the study.
Findings: Three themes were identified. Theme 1: The participants experienced preceptorship as both positive and negative and had to face several hurdles related to their personal adjustment and the way in which the initial orientation programme was run. Theme 2: The preceptors’ mentoring skills and level of dedication to their preceptorship role played a vital part in their experience of being integrated into the clinical environment. Theme 3: Participants reflected on their preceptorship experience and shared their expectations and opinions of the preceptorship programme.
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Conclusion: The preceptorship programme is an appropriate onboarding strategy. However, the common and unique experiences participants shared in this study have proven the need for continuous support from the management and educational departments to succeed in socialising new employees in the hospital. Team efforts rather than individual preceptors can contribute to a well-adaptive expatriate employee in a new and foreign work environment.
Keywords: adaptation, expatriate, onboarding, orientation, preceptee, preceptor, preceptorship, professional nurses.