Leadership and Professional Development

Preceptors play a vital role in orienting new staff to their roles and integrating them into the department and organizational culture. The Preceptor Academy is designed to equip current and aspiring preceptors with essential education, tools and strategies to build strong preceptor-orientee relationships. The academy will explore real-world scenarios to examine adult learning principles, analyze various learning methodologies, and apply strategies for giving and receiving feedback. Additionally, participants will define emotional intelligence and identify ways to use it for conflict management, coaching and professional development.

Upon completion of this program, participants will be able to:

• discuss techniques to promote constructive communication between the preceptee and the preceptor
• demonstrate how to provide effective and constructive feedback
• discuss the appropriate style of conflict resolution to use in specific situations
• identify your individual personality type
• recognize the importance of the preceptor role in integrating new health care professionals into the work setting
• discuss strategies to improve the retention of health care professionals
• identify strategies the preceptor can use to support the development of the preceptee’s clinical judgment

• Registration/Continental Breakfast
• Overview of the Preceptor’s Role
• Planning and Identifying Learning Needs
• Break
• Workplace Socialization
• Self-Awareness: Emotional Intelligence Personality Type
• Lunch (provided)
• Self-Awareness: Emotional Intelligence Personality Type (continued)
• Conflict Resolution
• Break
• Evaluation and Feedback
• Legal Considerations
• Summary
• Adjournment

Preceptor News is a bimonthly newsletter that provides nurses and health professionals serving as preceptors with tips and advice in mentoring new nurses and health care employees.

• January/February 2026
• March/April 2026

The Clinical Faculty Academy is a two-day training program designed for practicing nurses who are interested in or have been identified as strong candidates for a teaching role to be trained for the role of a clinical instructor. As a clinical educator, you can help train the next generation of nurses. Through this program, you will gain knowledge and skills essential for success in an adjunct clinical faculty role; a support network for adjunct clinical educators; and stronger connections between clinical practice sites and academic environments. Continuing nursing education hours will be offered. Participants must attend the program in its entirety to receive contact hours.

As a clinical educator, you can help train the next generation of nurses.
Through the Clinical Faculty Academy, participants will:

• explain the relationship between the Clinical Faculty Academy, the Missouri State Board of Nursing, and health care agencies in Missouri and Kansas
• distinguish between clinical judgment, clinical reasoning and critical thinking
• outline strategies to reduce risk in your faculty role by summarizing FERPA and HIPAA
• summarize the use of learning outcomes in a clinical setting and strategies to facilitate learning
• compare selected clinical evaluation tools used in nursing education
• discuss the importance of positive student-faculty relationships
• explain the purposes of pre- and post-clinical conferences
• develop an initial philosophy of teaching
• develop self-awareness of your own personal characteristics that will facilitate developing positive faculty-student relationships
• identify and interrupt incivility and unprofessional behavior, as well as examine the role of the clinical faculty in addressing challenging and complex situations

Day 1

• Welcome and Introductions
• Why Are We Here? The Purpose of the Clinical Faculty Academy and the Importance of Curricular Design in Nursing Education
• Break
• Developing Clinical Judgment
• Lunch
• Legal Issues in Clinical Education
• Break
• Creating a Positive Learning Environment
• Clinical Teaching and Evaluation: The Basics
• Summary and Adjournment

Day 2

• Opening Announcements
• Clinical Evaluation Tools
• Break
• Conducting Pre- and Post-Clinical Conferences
• Lunch
• Dealing With Challenging and Complex Situations in the Clinical Environment
• Break
• Challenges and Opportunities — Academia + Practice Maintaining a Work/Life Balance
• Summary and Adjournment