[Peer mentorship: nursing student and clinical preceptor perceptions].

The clinical teaching in nursing has the aim to help the student to acquire technical ability, to develop his professional responsibility and to pass from a depended and supervised practice to an independent one. Literature describes many strategies to facilitate students' learning, like "peer teaching". In the Nursing School of Udine peer teaching is characterized by a role of "guide" in apprenticeship assumed by the student of the third year towards a student of the first year. The objective of the study is to analyze the students and the clinical tutors perception of this model. The study is observational; the sample is composed by third year (40) and first year students (150) and by clinical tutors (40) that took part in this tutorial model in the academic year 2002/03 and 2003/04. The instrument is a questionnaire. A positive impact of peer teaching emerges. Nevertheless there are some difficulties faced by the clinical tutor in his role of supervisor and by the "guide" student struggling with a responsibility that put in discussion his theoretical, clinical and pedagogical preparation. It is therefore necessary to prepare the guide student for an important role in nursing education.