OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to understand and interpret the meanings of preceptorship, as it shows itself to the students of an Undergraduate Nursing course. METHOD: In this study, a qualitative research was used, in the phenomenological modality. Eight students undergoing preceptorships were interviewed, the subjects of this study, with the guiding question: "What is a preceptorship for you?" RESULTS: After the analysis of the descriptions, the following thematic categories emerged: approximation, coexistence, education and orientation. CONCLUSIONS: Preceptorship was shown to be an educative action, referring to a situationality that unfolds in three dimensions: personal, citizenship and professional. From this construction, always unfinished, it was necessary to reflect about the education of the nurse.
Preceptorship; Nursing education; Nursing research