Preceptor characteristics and the socialization outcomes of new graduate nurses during a preceptorship programme

Abstract Aim The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between preceptor characteristics (emotional intelligence, personality and cognitive intelligence) and new graduate nurse socialization outcomes regarding turnover intent, job satisfaction, role conflict and ambiguity during a preceptorship programme. To date, no studies have explored these relationships. Design A cross‐sectional and multi‐site design with purposeful sampling. Methods Dyads of preceptors and new nurses were recruited at the end of their preceptorship programme. Pearson's correlational analysis was used to examine the relationships. Results A sample of 41 preceptors and 44 new graduate nurses participated in this study, making 38 dyads with complete data. The preceptor personality traits of openness, conscientiousness and emotional stability were significantly related to new graduate nurses who reported greater turnover intent, job dissatisfaction, role conflict and ambiguity. No significant relationships were noted between preceptor EI and IQ and the outcome of new graduate nurses.


| Background
Organizational socialization is defined as the 'process by which an individual acquires the social knowledge and skills necessary to assume an organizational role' (Van Maanen & Schein, 1979, p. 211). Successful socialization occurring early in the organizational entry affects the long-term adjustment outcomes of the employee through, for example, role conflict, role ambiguity, job satisfaction and turnover intent (Ashforth, Sluss, & Harrison, 2007;Saks, Uggerslev, & Fassina, 2007).
Van Maanen and Schein's (1979) theory of organizational socialization states that new employees are vulnerable to the influence of individuals that immediately surround them: colleagues, supervisors and the socializing agents, such as preceptors. These social aspects are crucial in facilitating the socialization of new employees because they provide necessary social cues and assistance throughout the learning process (Saks et al., 2007). Thus, preceptors are well positioned to influence how new nurses are socialized during a preceptorship programme. In addition, the literature suggests that the relationship between preceptors and new graduate nurses may be influenced by generational differences, as there may be a clash between differing work values, potentially leading to conflict and differing preceptorship needs (Foley et al. 2012;Keepnews, Brewer, Kovner, & Shin, 2010).
The literature and Van Maanen and Schein's (1979) theory suggests there is something about an individual preceptor that is important to the socialization process of new nurses. For example Anderson (1998) reported that matching the learning style of new graduates (n=26) to those of the preceptor's (n=25) teaching style was related to the preceptorship and job satisfaction of new nurses. More recently, Giallonardo, Wong, and Iwasiw (2010) reported that new nurses working with preceptors with higher perceived levels of authentic leadership were more satisfied and engaged with their jobs. These results suggest that preceptor characteristics may have an impact on new nurses and, consequently, decisions about preceptor selection should not be arbitrary. However, there remains a lack of understanding surrounding the links between which specific preceptor characteristics, if any, would be most beneficial to facilitate transition, as well as how these characteristics may influence the transition of new employees (Ashforth et al., 2007;Canadian Nurses Association, 2004, Van Maanen & Schein, 1979. This is one of the limitations of Van Maanen and Schein's theory. However, this paper proposes that preceptor characteristics may influence the socialization outcome of new nurses due to their closeness as teacher and learner during the preceptorship programme (Fig. 1). Salovey and Mayer (1990) define EI as 'the ability to monitor one's own and others' emotions, to discriminate among them and use the information to guide one's thinking and actions' (p. 189). Mayer et al. (2004) conceptualize EI as comprising four abilities: (a) perceiving emotions; (b) using emotions to facilitate thought; (c) understanding emotions; and (d) managing emotions. There are few studies exploring the relationship between teacher EI and teaching outcomes. The literature reports significant relationships between teacher EI and teaching self-efficacy (Di Fabio & Palazzeschi, 2008;Mouton, Hansenne, Delcour, & Cloes, 2013;Penrose, Perry, & Ball, 2007). In nursing education, Allen, Ploeg, and Kaasalaine (2012)  These studies on self-reported EI and teacher effectiveness did not, however, measure student outcomes.
The business and management literature suggests that a leader's EI may have a positive impact on the work-related outcomes of subordinates, such as performance and job satisfaction (Sy et al., 2006;Wong & Law, 2002). Although preceptors are not leaders, they are in a position of authority throughout the preceptorship experience and are responsible for guiding and evaluating the new nurse's progress and practice. Another important element of the preceptor role is the relationship he or she develops with the new graduate nurse; evidence suggests that EI has a positive influence on interpersonal relationships (Lopes et al., 2003;Quoidbach & Hansenne, 2009). Personality is conceptualized by McCrae and Costa (1997) as 'variations in basic human ways of acting and experiencing' (p. 509). The big five personality traits examined include extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness and emotional stability. Significant positive relationships and shared variance have been reported between EI, IQ and several personality traits, such as openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness (Mayer et al., 2004;Schulte et al., 2004)

| Design and sample
This study used a cross-sectional design with purposeful sampling the new graduates in this study were provided with a preceptorship programme of comparable length. Also, the socialization that takes place during and after a preceptorship programme may be different.
Including only those within a month of completing the preceptorship programme may limit the capturing of this potentially different type of socialization.

| Participant recruitment and data collection
Each hospital appointed a site contact, usually the Director of Research, or designate, a designated representative in charge of identifying and recruiting eligible participants. The site contacts contacted the unit managers and educators to determine the number of new graduate nurses to be hired, as well as the email addresses of each new graduate and their preceptor. The site contacts and then sent an email containing a description study to the new graduates and preceptors 4, 2 and 1 week prior to the end of the preceptorship programme. This letter described the study and invited interested individuals to contact the researcher. Additionally, the researcher was present at shift changes to introduce nurses to the study and determine if there were new graduates and preceptors working on the unit that day and if they might be interested in receiving further information about the study.
New graduate nurses and their preceptors were approached as dyads.
Data were collected through the use of a questionnaire completed by participants at the end of the preceptorship programme between 2012-2013.

| Measures
Demographic variables included age, gender, years of nursing experience, current unit of employment and highest level of education.
Preceptor EI was measured using the Nursing Emotional Intelligence Scale (NEIS), a measure the researcher adapted from the Consumer Emotional Intelligence Scale (CEIS; Kidwell, Hardesry, & Childers, 2008) and pilot tested in a sample of 107 nurses with preceptor experience (Lalonde, 2013). Psychometric testing in the pilot study consisted of assessing the tool's face, discriminant and concurrent validity, as well as its internal structure through factor analysis (Nunnally, 1978).
Corresponding to Salovey and Mayer's (1990) ability model, the NEIS was moderately distinct from the Big Five personality traits and had a moderate correlation with another measure of EI, the CEIS. The NEIS consisted of 15 items, four of which were photos asking participants to choose the option that best corresponds to the emotion expressed in the pictures and faces. The remaining 11 questions involved nursing situations where respondents were asked to choose the option that best represents the emotion expressed in the scenario. The NEIS was scored using a scoring key developed from the expert nurses (n=16) in the pilot study using the same methodology as the CEIS (Kidwell et al.). Exploratory factor analysis yielded a two-factor model that explained 36.3% of the variance with a split-half reliability of 0.70. In this study, the split-half reliability was 0.62. To ease interpretability, the NEIS was normalized to standard scores with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15.
The Cattell Culture Fair Intelligence Test, Scale 3, Form A, was used to measure preceptor IQ. This involves a timed 50-item instrument comprised of diagrams that require the participants to solve problems (Hogrefe 2008). Reliability was 0.78. This variable was included due to a reported small to moderate relationship with EI (Schulte et al., 2004).
Role ambiguity is defined as an employee's lack of clarity and understanding of the expectations and responsibilities surrounding their job (Rizzo, House, & Lirtzman, 1970 The turnover intent of new graduates, or the intention to quit, comprises three areas: thinking of quitting, intending to leave and searching for new employment (Mobley, Horner, & Hollingsworth, 1978). This variable was measured using Mobley et al.'s (1978) scale, which consists of seven items using a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 'Strongly agree'-'Strongly disagree', with higher scores representing a greater turnover intent. A global turnover intent score was obtained by averaging the three items. The reliability of this instrument has been reported as 0.86 in a sample of nurses (Castle, 2006). For this study, the reliability estimate was α=0.89.

| Ethical considerations
Ethics approval was received by the university's research ethics board and by the five participating hospitals. Written consent was obtained once the participants had read through the information letter and consent form and after the researcher had answered their questions.
Nurses were informed that their participation in this study would not impact their job evaluation or their employment. No identifying information was collected and code numbers were used for data entry purposes only.

| Data analysis
Data were analysed in SPSS version 21. The level of statistical significance was set at p<.05. Analysis including descriptive statistics, such as means, standard deviations and frequency distributions were examined. Scatter plots were also examined to determine the existence of outliers and the data were examined to determine if the variables were normally distributed. Descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlational analysis were used to examine the relationship between the variables.
As the role ambiguity and job satisfaction of new graduate were negatively skewed, they were transformed to conform to normality assumptions prior to undertaking correlational analysis (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007). Role ambiguity was reflected and log transformed, capturing the log of role clarity, with higher scores representing greater role ambiguity. Job satisfaction was reflected and square rooted, with the variable now representing the square root of job dissatisfaction.
The variable of turnover intent of new graduate nurses was positively skewed, demonstrating lower turnover intent for study participants in this study. As suggested by Tabachnick and Fidell, transformations were conducted but failed to create a normal distribution, thus violating the normal distribution assumption of regression. Consequently, the variable was dichotomized (Pallant, 2007). Pearson's correlations were applied to the transformed data (Table 2).

| Preceptors
The EI score of preceptors ranged from 63.6-125.1, with higher scores representing greater EI (Table 1). Forty per cent (n=16) of preceptor scores fell below the mean, while 60% (n=24) rose above. The scores for the personality trait of agreeableness ranged between 1.80 and 5.00, with a mean of 4.36 (SD 0.57). The scores for conscientiousness ranged between 2.30-5.00, with a mean of 4.10 (SD 0.55). These results suggest these two personality traits were prominent for preceptors in this study. The means for the other two personality traits, openness (3.63, SD 0.50, range 2.00-4.70) and emotional stability (3.35, SD 0.65, range 2.00-4.70), were just below the midpoint, suggesting the preceptors in this study displayed below-average scores for these traits. The mean IQ score was 24.6 (SD 3.61), with scores ranging from 11-34. Higher scores represent greater IQ and as the median and mode were 24, this suggests little variation among the scores. To aid in the interpretation of the results, IQ scores were normalized as outlined by the instrument developer (Hogrefe 2008). The normalized standard score was 108 at the 69th percentile, suggesting above-average IQ in this sample of preceptors.

| New graduate nurse outcome scores
The role ambiguity of new graduate nurses ranged between 2.67-7.00. The mean was 5.75 (SD 0.84), which is above the midpoint, indicating that respondents appear to have a good understanding of their nursing role. The role conflict scores ranged from 1.00-6.25, with an average of 3.21 (SD 1.17), which is slightly below the midpoint, suggesting that this sample of new graduates experienced low levels of role conflict. The new graduate nurses had little intent to turnover, with a mean of 1.70 (SD 0.83) and a range between 1-4. Additionally, they reported high levels of job satisfaction 6.36 (SD 0.99), with scores ranging from 1.00-7.00.

| Preceptor characteristics and new graduate nurse outcomes
As outlined in Table 2 (Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010). Keepnews et al. (2010) reported that the new graduate nurse millennials in their study had higher negative moods compared with the other generations. Myers and Sadaghiani (2010) suggest that conflict can occur when there are differences between the work-related values and role expectations of colleagues from different generations. Foley, Myrick, and Yonge (2012) report that the intergenerational conflict found in their study of nurses involved in nursing preceptorships may have been due to a lack of generational knowledge.

| DISCUSSION
Second, preceptor conscientiousness was positively related to new graduate turnover intent. Specifically, the more conscientious the preceptor, the higher the intent to turnover among the new graduate participants. This implies that new nurses paired with more conscientious preceptors are more likely to want to leave their current job.
As the preceptors provide the technical information surrounding their new role, along with important social cues, the new nurse assesses these social cues and the people surrounding them (Saks et al., 2007;Van Maanen & Schein,1979

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Third, preceptor emotional stability was positively related to new graduate role ambiguity, suggesting that new nurses paired with preceptors who were calmer and less reactive to stress were more likely to experience role ambiguity. This finding was unexpected and additional research is required to further explore these relationships. It may provide important information about the realities of current acute care hospital work environments and this particular cohort of new nurses.
The lack of significant findings between preceptor EI, IQ and new graduate work outcomes in this sample suggests that EI and IQ did not impact new graduate outcomes. It is possible that preceptor EI is not as important a contributor to new graduate nurse outcomes than specific personality traits. Perhaps the continued support provided by the preceptor during the extended preceptorship programme was the most important element for the new graduates during their transition period. Peterson et al. (2011) explored factors that contributed to the job satisfaction and turnover intent of Canadian new graduate nurses (n=232). These authors report that social support from both supervisors and coworkers were significantly related to new graduate job satisfaction, while support from coworkers was related to new nurse turnover intent. Therefore, the support provided by the preceptor may be a significant component.
The majority of preceptors had EI scores that rose above the mean, suggesting a higher EI. This finding is similar to what has been reported in a sample of North American undergraduate faculty members employed in clinical teaching (Allen et al., 2012). By contrast, Saeed, Javadi, and Nouri (2013) reported that, in their sample of Iranian nurses (N=212), 48.6% (N=103) were categorized as having 'good' or 'excellent' EI skills, whereas 51.5% (N=109) fell in the low EI categories. One third of the sample in this study fell below the mean, suggesting lower EI. These findings are similar to those reported in US staff nurses by Codier, Kooker, and Shoultz (2008). The low EI found in more than a third of the study's preceptor participants is a cause for concern given the nature of nursing work. Although some nurses opt to be preceptors, the literature indicates that preceptors are often selected by nursing managers, regardless of their interest in the role.
Preceptors in this study were not asked if they had volunteered for the role and therefore it is not possible to determine if there is a difference in EI scores between nurses who volunteer for the role and those who do not.
Preceptor IQ was not significantly related to any new nurse outcome. The IQ results suggest above-average IQs with little variation in scores. These findings are interesting and may be explained by the specific types of individuals who are attracted to the nursing profession and by the nature of the nurses' educational preparation. which sets the minimum provincial standard. It is possible that the dynamic and complex profession of nursing attracts individuals who tend to have higher IQs. One paradoxical finding involves a lack of variation in preceptor IQ scores, while the EI scores do vary, with a low EI in one third of the participants. This warrants further investigation. More specifically, the relationship between EI and IQ in nurses as well as the role of IQ in the nursing profession are not yet known.

| Implications for Research and Practice
The results of this study provide preliminary support to the idea that

| Limitations
The number of available participant dyads for this study was less than expected, which limits the generalizability of results. Preceptor EI was measured using the NEIS, a scale adapted for this study and pilot-tested prior to use. The results of the pilot test suggest that the NEIS was reliable and valid. However, the reliability of the pilot dropped from 0.70-0.63. Further research is needed to examine the validity and reliability of the NEIS in different samples of nurses.
To date, there are no other tools that specifically measure the EI of nurses. Therefore, a valid and reliable measure of nurse EI would be a significant contribution to the field. The impact of important environmental variables on the socialization of new nurses, such as staffing, skill mix, patient acuity and needs, fell beyond the scope of this study and thus limits the generalizability of results. The context where nurses work and teach should be included in any future research on this topic.

| CONCLUSION
This study examined the impact of preceptor characteristics, EI, IQ and personality on the socialization outcomes of new graduate nurses.
Three preceptor personality traits, including openness, conscientiousness and emotional stability, were related to new graduate nurse outcomes. This study provides additional support to the existing literature that examines how preceptor characteristics may be worthy of consideration. However, further research is required to determine whether or not preceptor personality traits impact the socialization outcomes of new graduate nurses.