Role performance among clinical nurse preceptors through a dramaturgical lens: A qualitative study.

AIM: To explore how clinical nurse preceptors navigate and negotiate their roles before multiple audiences in clinical teaching, informed by Goffman's dramaturgical perspective.

BACKGROUND

Clinical nursing education occurs in complex, safety-critical settings where preceptors must respond simultaneously to the expectations of students, patients and families, colleagues and managers. Although they play a central role in connecting classroom learning with clinical practice, the interactional processes through which they negotiate these potentially conflicting expectations have received limited explicit attention.

DESIGN

A descriptive qualitative study informed by Goffman's dramaturgical theory.

METHODS

Twenty preceptors affiliated with seven tertiary hospitals across eastern, central and southern China were purposively recruited at a tertiary maternal and child health hospital in eastern China. Individual semistructured interviews were conducted between May and June 2026 and analyzed using deductive content analysis with NVivo 15.0 until data saturation was reached.

RESULTS

Four themes were identified: (1) a sandwiched role under multiple expectations and scrutiny; (2) maintaining and adapting professional images in clinical settings; (3) collaboration and evaluative boundaries within the preceptorship team; and (4) professional growth through sustained preceptorship performance.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical preceptorship involves role performance and impression management before multiple audiences, rather than merely the transmission of knowledge and skills. Such role performance reflects professional judgment in maintaining educational order and balancing competing expectations, while sustained preceptorship may contribute to professional growth and entail additional, often invisible work. Improving clinical nursing education may therefore benefit from appropriate evaluation frameworks, recognition of invisible labor and a culture of open team communication.