8 perceptions within the nursing profession. A descriptive exploratory study with a large sample of preceptors and students across multiple nursing schools within Canada would be highly valuable in adding to this important body of nursing knowledge. We also advocate conducting other phenomenological studies to examine experiences of diﬀer- ent dyads, such as Baby Boomers preceptors and Millennial students, or Millennial preceptors and Millennial students. Such research would help to elucidate whether the challenges identiﬁed in the current study are indeed related to the intergenerational context of the learning space. The impact of generational diversity on workplace leaning is another important area to be explored. Interprofessional studies to examine experiences of ﬁeld educators and students from other disciplines would allow for valuable comparisons to be made with the ﬁndings of the current study. It is important to raise the question of whether the challenges described in this study are unique to nursing thus interprofessional studies would aid in establishing a foundation for knowledge utilization. 7. Limitations This study describes the lived experiences of seven nursing students and seven preceptors as they negotiate the teach- ing/learning process in the intergenerational context. The complexities of their collective experiences have been illumi- nated, but that is not to say that another phenomenological study with a diﬀerent group of preceptors and students would yield the same ﬁndings. The preceptors in our study were all of the Generation X and all had at least 5 years of experience with precepting students. It is likely that their experiences diﬀer from those of less experienced preceptors and perhaps preceptors of other generations, such as Baby Boomers. We also acknowledge the inherent limitation of any human science research that a description of one’s expe- rience, even a rich and deep description, can never truly capture the entirety of that lived experience. van Manen [19] admonishes that we must “remain aware that lived life is always more complex than any explication of meaning can reveal” (page 18). It is also worthy of mention here that we are not suggesting that generational diversity is the most important issue in nursing preceptorship today, but rather it is an emerging topic of interest and one that we believe warrants further attention. It is diﬃcult to ascertain whether the rewards and aﬃrming aspects of the preceptorship expe- rience as described above relate speciﬁcally to working with someone of a diﬀerent generation or rather preceptorship from a broader perspective. We should also add that many challenges were identiﬁed by our study participants and we recognize that a generational lens is only one way to view situations where conﬂicts and/or challenges are occurring. Such situations can be highly complex and the generation to which a person belongs is merely one factor in the equation. We did not explore personality conﬂicts or diﬀerences in learning styles in this study per se; however these topics were raised by some of our participants. Nursing Research and Practice We recognize one other limitation, the diﬃculty in reach- ing all fourteen of the participants for a second interview. Following the ﬁrst round of interviews a written summary of emerging themes, along with some direct quotations from the interviews, was sent to each participant and a second interview was requested to conﬁrm, extend, or challenge the analysis. We were successful in receiving feedback from all but two of the participants (one preceptor and one student). 8. Conclusion This study lays the foundation for pedagogical nursing knowledge development in the area of generational diversity. Through the phenomenological methodology as described by van Manen [19], we have sought to provide a rich, deep interpretation of the real-life experiences of both preceptors and students as they negotiate the teaching and learning process in the intergenerational world of nursing practice. Three essential themes were identiﬁed (being aﬃrmed, being challenged, and being on a pedagogical journey), each consisting of a number of subthemes. Our purpose in this paper was to explore the theme, being aﬃrmed, in a rich and deep way, and we believe that the ﬁndings and analysis we have presented here allow for externalization of our par- ticipants’ experiences. Each of the participants in our study described their lived experience as an aﬃrming experience and one that reaped many personal rewards. We believe that highlighting the aﬃrming aspects of this experience is signiﬁcant for the sustainability of the preceptorship model of clinical education. Generational diversity undoubtedly inﬂuences the teaching/learning process in preceptorship and developing further understanding of this phenomenon is directly relevant for nurse educators, students, and nurses in clinical practice. The ﬁndings of our study can be used to improve the preparation of students and preceptors for the intergenerational world of nursing practice. As Raines [50] notes, “We can use generational lenses to help us see things we might not otherwise notice” (page 2). Acknowledgments This research was supported by a Doctoral Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The authors would also like to acknowledge Gloria Smith, research assistant, for her contribution to this paper. References [1] F. Myrick and O. Yonge, Nursing Preceptorship: Connecting Practice & Education, Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins, Philadelphia, Pa, USA, 2005. [2] N. Howe and W. Strauss, Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, Vintage Books, New York, NY, USA, 2000. [3] B. W. Minnis, Variables That Contribute to the Recruitment and Retention Strategies for Generation X Nurses [Doctoral Dissertation], Pepperdine University, Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Database. (UMI No. AAI3150354), 2004.