Mentoring and nurse practitioner student self-efficacy.

The relationship between nurse practitioner students and their clinical teachers (preceptors) may have an impact on students' confidence in their ability to take on the advanced practice role of the nurse practitioner. This descriptive, correlational study investigated the relationship between nurse practitioner students' perceptions of mentoring by their clinical preceptors and student self-efficacy. Bandura's Self-Efficacy Theory and Biddle's Role Theory provided the framework for the research. Study results may have an impact on graduate nursing program philosophy, clinical placement management strategies, and preceptor selection.