Summary Background The attention is currently turned to the daily experience of the nursing preceptors. The dual role as both educator and practitioner can be stressful. Currently they meet the need for more students to complete their training in the health care system. Simultaneously demands on quality of the education are raised during the accreditation process of the nurse education. At the same time the job as a clinical nurse is busy and complex with demands for continuous use of new criteria for quality standards and types of knowledge. We find this problematic, when we as co-responsible for planning the clinical training and supervision of the nursing preceptors have to offer them increasing amounts of information, responsibilities and education. Moreover, the preceptors are supposed to supervise, introduce and follow the students in a complex and unpredictable work practice, which raises demands of excessive skills of the preceptors. The modern information society requires lifelong learning and the common understanding is that improved theoretical education equals better quality. We aim at evaluating the preceptors experience of navigating between demands on quality in patient care, preceptorship and growing amounts of knowledge in the Danish health care system in order to be able to entering a qualified cooperation with the nursing preceptors. Problem How do we come to an understanding and explanation of the nursing preceptors experiences of the complex working practice of contrasting patient care assignments, preceptorship and demands of different types of knowledge. Method Empirical qualitative data are gathered from two semi-structured individual interviews and one focus group interview. The latter method is chosen because of the opportunity for gathering data through the participant inspiring each other for further perspectives. Through condensation of meaning four issues appear. These issues are analyzed and discussed in a theoretical context with inspiration from Aristoteles´ three forms of knowledge and a sociological perspective inspired by the French sociologist, Pierre Bourdieu. Conclusion We found that preceptorship beside one contrasting environment of a complex working practise with several forms of knowledge contains two more contrasting fields: First, the field with various forms of knowledge, that basically understand each other out of different paradigms. These paradigms have alternate intentions of the use of knowledge and individual criteria for true knowledge. Secondly, the field of a working logic and an education logic, which have opposing paradigms of knowledge, too.