Preceptorship can be the key to retaining newly registered staff in the profession. The need to adequately support this valuable resource is once again the focus of Nursing Times. We have repeated a survey we carried out in 2021, to take a fresh snapshot of preceptorship. The findings suggest improvements, but that there is more work to be done. In an editorial about the survey, Unison’s head of nursing, Stuart Tuckwood, described the findings, overall, as welcome but warned that they should not be taken for granted. He called for more resources to ensure policies and frameworks made a difference. Meanwhile, Helené Donnelly has reflected on her own experience as a newly registered nurse and why it is essential that more experienced colleagues remember how intimidating those first few days, weeks and months can feel. Touching on similar themes, our clinical section looks at defining the professional nurse advocate role, using learning bays to boost student placement capacity and what academics think about fitness to practise. We have also launched two brilliant new clinical series, on advanced assessment and interpretation, and on the structure and role of vitamins and minerals.