Hindawi Publishing Corporation Nursing Research and Practice Volume 2012, Article ID 572510, 10 pages doi:10.1155/2012/572510 Research Article Preceptorship and Afﬁrmation in the Intergenerational World of Nursing Practice Vicki Foley,1 Florence Myrick,2 and Olive Yonge2 1 School of Nursing, University of Prince Edward Island, 550 University Avenue, Charlottetown, PE, Canada C1A 4P3 2 Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 1C9 Correspondence should be addressed to Vicki Foley, vfoley@upei.ca Received 7 January 2012; Accepted 4 March 2012 Academic Editor: Florence Luhanga Copyright © 2012 Vicki Foley et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Research has shown that while preceptorship oﬀers a reality-oriented learning environment and facilitates competence of students, there are inherent rewards and stressors associated with the experience. Students and preceptors can be from diﬀerent generations, and as such, they may often come to the learning space with diﬀering values and expectations. The nature of the preceptorship experience in this intergenerational context was explored in a recent phenomenological study with seven preceptors and seven nursing students in an undergraduate nursing program in Eastern Canada. Overall the experience was found to be inclusive of three main themes: being aﬃrmed, being challenged, and being on a pedagogical journey. In this paper we explore the ﬁrst of these themes, being aﬃrmed. Highlighting the positive aspects of the preceptorship experience in the intergenerational context is necessary to promote a culture of openness and respect for generational diﬀerences within clinical nursing practice settings and to improving the overall quality of the educational experience. 1. Introduction Research has shown that while preceptorship oﬀers a reality- oriented learning environment and facilitates competence of students, there are inherent rewards and stressors associated with the experience [1]. The formation of a positive working relationship between a student and a preceptor highly inﬂu- ences the overall success of the preceptorship experience. In today’s nursing clinical practice settings, there can be up to four generations (Silents, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials) present and each can be said to have its own distinct worldview [2]. The majority of today’s university and college students belong to the Millennial Generation (also referred to in the literature as Generation Y), while most preceptors are either Baby Boomers or Generation Xers. Within the discipline of nursing, values and expectations are often deeply rooted in traditions and customs of nursing practice and invariably as the younger generation brings new ideas to the practice setting, clashes between the generations are occurring and these can be diﬃcult to resolve [3]. Pro- moting a positive community of practice for nursing students is the shared responsibility of nurse educators and preceptors [1, 4]. In this phenomenological study, the experiences of seven nursing students and seven preceptors within the intergener- ational world of nursing practice were explored. Participants were recruited from an undergraduate nursing program in Eastern Canada. The ﬁndings revealed that the overall expe- rience was inclusive of three main themes: being aﬃrmed, being challenged, and being on a pedagogical journey. The purpose of this paper is to undertake an in-depth exploration of the ﬁrst theme, being aﬃrmed. A total of ﬁve subthemes emerged from the data in relation to this theme. From the students’ perspective, being aﬃrmed related to havinga professional role modeland building conﬁdence. The precep- tors’ reﬂections related more speciﬁcally to being respected, imparting the legacy, and strengthening nursing knowledge. These ﬁve subthemes will be explored in more detail and supported with direct quotes from the participants that are believed to be particularly illuminating. In our view, high- lighting the positive aspects of the preceptorship experience in the intergenerational context is necessary in order to promote a culture of openness and respect for generational diﬀerences within clinical nursing practice settings. Knowl- edge of the aﬃrming aspects is also directly relevant for recruitment and retention of preceptors, as well as student