| Course | NUR-6340 Healthcare Professional Precepting Ensuring Career Success |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 2 |
| Paper type | Precepting paper: clinical teaching methods |
| Length | About 1,025 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | M.S. in Nursing, Nurse Educator |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NUR 6340 Module 2
Five Questions in a Busy Hallway: Using the One-Minute Preceptor on a Paterson Medical Unit
Student Name
M.S. in Nursing, Nurse Educator, Thomas Edison State University
NUR-6340: Healthcare Professional Precepting: Ensuring Career Success
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
Five Questions in a Busy Hallway: Using the One-Minute Preceptor on a Paterson Medical Unit
How I Was Teaching
The unit and the people in this paper are invented. I am a staff nurse on a 32-bed medical unit at a hospital in Paterson, and I have precepted for four years. My current orientee, Malik, is an experienced licensed practical nurse who recently became a registered nurse. In his second week, his patient's oxygen saturation dropped to 86 percent. Before he could speak, I had raised the head of the bed, increased the oxygen, called respiratory therapy and paged the physician. The patient improved. Malik watched. Afterward I realized he had learned that I would fix things, not how to think through them.
The unit educator suggested I learn the one-minute preceptor, a model designed for clinicians who have little time to teach.
The One-Minute Preceptor
Aagaard et al. (2004) studied the one-minute preceptor, also called the five microskills model, in a controlled study with resident physicians as teachers. The five steps are: get a commitment, inviting the learner to name the problem or the next step; probe for supporting evidence, asking what led them to that conclusion; teach a general rule that applies beyond this case; reinforce what was done well, specifically; and correct mistakes, specifically and kindly. Residents trained in the model, when rating recorded teaching encounters, were better able to diagnose both the patient's problem and the learner's level of understanding than residents who had not been trained, and learners rated the teaching more highly. The study was small and used simulated encounters, but it supported the model as a practical structure for brief teaching.
What Effective Clinical Teachers Do
Irby (1995) reviewed research on teaching and learning in ambulatory care, where time is short and patients keep coming. He described effective clinical teachers as those who plan even brief teaching, assess the learner's knowledge before teaching, involve learners actively with real patients, ask questions that stimulate thinking, give feedback and model good practice while explaining their reasoning aloud. He found that learners valued teachers who gave them responsibility and treated them as members of the team.
Where Malik Was
Benner (1984) traced nursing skill through five stages, from the novice to the expert, with advanced beginner, competent and proficient in between. An advanced beginner has seen enough to spot familiar patterns but still needs help deciding what comes first. Competent nurses plan deliberately and can manage many tasks but may lack the speed and flexibility of proficient nurses, who see situations as wholes.
Malik was not a novice; he had years of practice as a licensed practical nurse and recognized a falling saturation instantly. But in his new role as the registered nurse responsible for assessment and escalation, he was closer to an advanced beginner. He needed practice deciding and acting, not watching me decide and act.
| Source | Key idea | Change in my teaching |
|---|---|---|
| Aagaard et al. (2004) | Five microskills diagnose patient and learner quickly | Ask for Malik's commitment before acting |
| Irby (1995) | Effective teachers assess, question, give responsibility and model reasoning | Think aloud; let Malik act with me nearby |
| Benner (1984) | Experienced nurses in new roles may be advanced beginners | Teach prioritizing and escalation, not tasks he knows |
Three Moments
The first moment came the following week. Malik's patient with pneumonia had a heart rate of 118, up from 92. Instead of acting, I asked him what he thought was happening. He said the patient might be getting septic. I asked what made him think so, and he pointed to the fever that morning and the rising heart rate. I taught a general rule: in a patient with an infection, a rising heart rate and breathing rate can be early signs of sepsis before blood pressure falls. I told him specifically that noticing the trend in heart rate was exactly right. Then I corrected one thing: he planned to recheck in an hour, and I explained that he should check the blood pressure and lactate order now and call the provider. The whole exchange took about two minutes, and Malik made the call.
The second moment was a patient with new confusion. Malik's commitment was that the patient was sundowning. When I probed, he had not checked a blood sugar. The general rule: new confusion needs a search for a cause, starting with the quick ones, glucose and oxygen. The glucose was 52. I reinforced that he had noticed the change, and corrected the assumption that confusion in an older patient is always expected.
The third moment involved discharge teaching for a patient on a new anticoagulant. Malik's plan was sound, and the general rule I offered was about using teach-back to confirm understanding. My reinforcement was specific: he had asked about the patient's other medicines, which revealed a dangerous interaction.
What Changed for Me
Using the model meant tolerating a pause while Malik thought, which was uncomfortable when a patient looked unwell. I learned to judge when there was time to teach and when I needed to act first and teach afterward, which the model allows. Thinking aloud, as Irby describes, also helped Malik see how I prioritize when I did take over.
What Changed for Malik
By week six, Malik was offering his assessment before I asked. He said that being asked what he thought made him prepare his thinking before speaking to me, and that the general rules gave him something to use with the next patient. The unit educator noted that his reports to physicians had become clearer.
Limits
The one-minute preceptor was studied mainly with physicians, and the evidence for its effect on patient outcomes is limited. Some situations demand immediate action, and teaching must wait. One orientee's progress cannot show that the model caused it.
Conclusion
I was teaching by taking over. The one-minute preceptor gave me a short structure for teaching in the moment, Irby's review described what effective clinical teachers do and Benner's stages helped me see where Malik was. Asking for his commitment before acting, probing his reasoning, teaching a general rule and giving specific feedback turned brief moments into teaching.
References
Aagaard, E., Teherani, A., & Irby, D. M. (2004). Effectiveness of the one-minute preceptor model for diagnosing the patient and the learner: Proof of concept. Academic Medicine, 79(1), 42-49. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-200401000-00010
Benner, P. (1984). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice. Addison-Wesley.
Irby, D. M. (1995). Teaching and learning in ambulatory care settings: A thematic review of the literature. Academic Medicine, 70(10), 898-931. https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-199510000-00014
Reading the NUR 6340 Module 2 assignment instructions
Teaching and learning in the clinical environment is the focus of TESU's catalog description of NUR-6340, and with the syllabus held for enrolled students, module two asks for a paper applying a brief clinical teaching model. Write a paper that describes how you or a preceptor currently teach, explains a model such as the one-minute preceptor with its evidence, uses a framework to judge the learner's stage, applies the model to two or three specific moments with dialogue and reflects on what changed for preceptor and preceptee. Other sections set two clinical teaching models side by side instead. Check whether short dialogue is allowed in the paper and whether the brief wants the five steps shown as a table or written into the narrative.
Inside the NUR 6340 Module 2 example
An invented preceptor on a Paterson medical unit realizes she teaches by taking over her orientee's patients. The one-minute preceptor's five microskills and Aagaard's study, Irby's review of effective clinical teaching and Benner's stages are explained, and the changes they prompt are summarized in a table. Three hallway moments, a rising heart rate, new confusion and anticoagulant teaching, are worked through the five steps. What changed for the preceptor and the orientee, limits and the conclusion follow. Annotations note the self-examination and honest reflection. The preceptor's own discomfort with pausing while a patient looks unwell is described honestly, along with how she judges when to act first.
Reading the NUR 6340 Module 2 grading rubric
Clinical teaching papers earn credit for an honest description of current teaching, accurate explanation of a teaching model and its evidence, use of a framework to assess the learner, specific moments worked through the model and reflection on change. Mentors notice when general rules are stated clearly enough to transfer to the next patient. Feedback that names exactly what was done well shows skill. Recognizing when to act first and teach later shows safe judgment. Sources from medical education should be cited accurately and their limits for nursing acknowledged. Showing dialogue for each of the five steps, rather than describing them in general, makes the model's use visible to the reader.
NUR 6340 Module 2 help: mistakes that cost marks
Teaching papers often describe a model without showing it used; write out real moments step by step. Another frequent gap is reinforcement that says only "good job." Ask for the learner's commitment before you act. Probe their reasoning. State a rule that applies beyond the case. Name specifically what was done well and what to change. Reflect on what was hard for you. Your own preceptor story can become a free first draft written to your brief, at the depth of the Paterson paper. Decide in advance which situations require you to act first and teach afterward. Keep the five steps short enough to use on a busy shift.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
More NUR 6340 and M.S. in Nursing, Nurse Educator sample papers
- NUR 6340 Module 1: Transition Shock Paper: A New Graduate's First Four Months in an Emergency Department
- NUR 6340 Module 3: Feedback Paper: A Struggling Orientee and a Remediation Plan
- NUR 6340 Module 4: Retention Paper: Building a Nurse Residency With Preceptors at Its Center
- NUR 6340 Module 5: Preceptor Support Paper: Workload, Recognition and Preparation
- NUR 6340 Module 6: Reflective Precepting Paper: An Experienced Nurse Moving Into Critical Care
- NUR 7100 Module 2: Item Writing Paper: Reviewing a Test Bank Against Published Guidelines
- NUR 6300 Module 3: Simulation Paper: Substituting Simulation for Clinical Hours and Debriefing Well
- NUR 7000 Module 5: Implementation Paper: A Dedicated Education Unit and the Transition to Practice
NUR 6340 Module 2 questions, answered
Where can I find a free NUR 6340 Module 2 sample paper?
The one-minute preceptor paper set on an invented Paterson medical unit, from the preceptor's habit of taking over to three teaching moments, can be read here.
What are the five microskills of the one-minute preceptor?
Ask the learner to commit to an answer, ask why, give a rule that travels to other cases, name what went well and fix what did not.
Does the one-minute preceptor work?
Aagaard and colleagues found that teachers trained in the model diagnosed patients and learners better in recorded encounters, though the study was small.
What do effective clinical teachers do?
Irby described teachers who assess the learner, question to stimulate thinking, give responsibility, give feedback and explain their reasoning aloud.
Can an experienced LPN be an advanced beginner as an RN?
Yes; Benner's stages apply to roles, so an experienced nurse in a new role may need help with its new responsibilities.