Effective Characteristics of a Clinical Instructor as Perceived by BSU Student Nurses (original) (raw)
2015, International Journal of Nursing Science
This article is a report on a study conducted to explore the effective characteristics of a clinical instructor as perceived by student nurses. Specifically, it aimed to: (1) determine if a significant difference exists on students' perceptions of the effective characteristics of clinical instructors when grouped according to academic level and sex; (2) identify the top ten (10) effective characteristics as perceived by student nurses; (3) determine which subset among the five (5) domains of characteristics was deemed most important by student nurses; and (4) establish why student nurses have such perceptions on clinical instructor characteristics. Clinical faculty members have a significant role in the education and development of nursing students. Despite the many studies conducted regarding clinical teaching behaviours, a gap still exists regarding the topic of clinical teaching effectiveness. Exploration of effective characteristics expected from clinical instructors may provide insights to further improve educational programs for student nurses. The study utilized a mixed-method design. Quantitative data were collected by administering questionnaires to 224 student nurses in January 2015. Questions were asked to measure the importance of each of the thirty (30) effective clinical instructor characteristics enumerated. Results were subjected to several statistical measures using the SPPS version 21 (IBM Corp., 2011). Qualitative data, on the other hand, were gathered by conducting 32 key informant interviews to answer the last objective. It was deduced that sex is not a variable in student nurses' perceptions of effective clinical instructor characteristics. Conversely, it was established that difference in academic level poses an effect in students' perceptions of the identified characteristics. Professional competence is deemed to be the most important characteristic among the five (5) domains. It was supported by the inclusion of three (3) competence-related clinical teaching behaviours in the upper half of the roster. By and large, characteristics pointed out by the students during the interviews are clinical teaching behaviours that help them bridge the gap between theory and practice. It was concluded that generally, CIs need both character and competence when aimed at gearing student nurses to become successful members of the profession.
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