Preceptors and volunteer clinical faculty offer students individual perspectives and hands-on experience in a variety of health care settings and specialties. The cumulative effect of what these volunteers impart plays a significant role in the care any health system delivers.
- Clinical preceptors are integral to the future of nursing.
- They volunteer their time and energy, using education and training in an effort to assure that the profession grows and thrives.
- They provide students with learning experiences that prepare them for the role of expert care provider.
- Preceptors can advance their career by becoming a UCSF volunteer faculty, participating in CE opportunities, and collaborating on projects within the School of Nursing.
- For more information, contact Clinical Placements Supervisor Tammy Ryan.
Why I Precept
What Makes a Great Preceptor?
Recognizing Our Preceptors
In honor of the critical contributions that preceptors make to advance student learning, the UCSF School of Nursing faculty are honoring one preceptor each month. The award recognizes an exceptional preceptor who consistently and effectively contributes to UCSF nursing students’ clinical education.
Susannah Ewing, NP, has provided outpatient gynecology (GYN) care at UCSF for 20 years; she has been precepting nurse-midwifery and NP students for six years. Cynthia Belew, interim coordinator of the nurse-midwifery specialty, said, “We are immensely grateful for Susannah’s dedicated and skillful contributions. She has not only precepted but also contributed her content expertise in the development of lectures and case studies on complex topics in sexual and reproductive health.”
“In the last five years I have focused on CNM students and have made a personal commitment to take a CNM student every semester in honor of Rebekah Kaplan, CNM, who was such a dedicated part of the SON and the CNM program at UCSF. Our busy GYN practice is a great setting to expose students to a large spectrum of routine and complicated GYN issues,” Susannah said. “The nurse-midwifery students add so much to my daily practice. They bring a fresh energy and an eagerness to apply what they have learned in the classroom. I have learned something new from each of my students, whether it is a cultural difference they bring to the practice setting, or a new pearl of wisdom they bring from another clinical experience. I have been very lucky to have such amazing students and maintain contact with most of my students after they graduate and head off on their own.”
One of Susannah’s preceptees shared, “I am forever indebted to Susannah's generous teaching and confidence in us as students. She gave me a huge gift of trust and patience, which allowed me to believe that I absolutely can be good at this work one day. In addition, she models efficiency in the clinic while simultaneously being present and warm with patients and colleagues.”
Read about other recipients of the School of Nursing Preceptor Awards.