Meet Our Preceptors

Becky Meritt, RN, PMHNP-BC

Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, Hillside Family of Agencies

Why do you choose to precept?

I choose to precept because I work in a great environment that facilitates learning as well as offers a broad range of mental health issues as well as developmental issues. The Hillside environment also offers various opportunities to collaborate with other health professionals and really get a good picture of what a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary approach looks like.

I place a great value on the role of the psychiatric NP and having a student with me to share in my values provides me with even more enthusiasm about mental health care as a whole.

What advice would you give to clinicians or health care leaders who are considering precepting or new to the mentor role?

If there are others considering precepting, I would say to do it! Helping others learn is fulfilling. Students also provide different perspectives and ideas to the table which in turn helps keeps clinicians and providers learning as well.

What advice would you give to students?

I graduated from the psych NP program at the UR School of Nursing in 2015. Because I started precepting early in my career, I am able to relate to the student role as I distinctly remember my own clinical experiences. Drawing from my own experiences, I try to incorporate learning tools that have really helped me to learn as a student but also as a newer NP.

Becky Meritt began precepting NP students at the University of Rochester School of Nursing in Spring 2018. During clinical rotations, her student completed psychiatric evaluations, comprehensive assessments, gathered collateral with families, as well as followed up with families regarding their child's progress.

Meet Our Preceptors