A Descriptive, Cross- Sectional Study Analyzing the Characteristics of an Effective Clinical Instructor: Perceptions of Baccalaureate Nursing Students

Abstract

This study explored baccalaureate students' perception of the characteristics of an effective clinical instructor utilizing the Whitehead Characteristics of Effective Clinical Instructor Rating Scale. The instrument is a 39 item 5 point Likert-type scale that measures, interpersonal relationships, personality traits, teaching practices, knowledge and experience, and evaluation procedures. This descriptive, cross-sectional study utilized a sample of 110randomly selected second and third year students from an urban school of nursing. Results showed that students regarded all characteristics as important (m= 4.05 to 4.76). A comparison of the means for the characteristics of an effective clinical instructor by year group, showed significant differences between the year groups for all five categories (p= 0.0001). A comparison of the mean characteristics of effective clinical instructors by age groups revealed statistically significant differences between the mean scores of interpersonal relationship (p= .005), personality traits (p= .024), teaching practices (p= .027) and evaluation procedures (p= .047). Students placed high levels of importance on the characteristics of the Clinical instructor. Therefore to ensure a suitable environment for learning, nursing schools could establish interactive feedback sessions with students and clinical instructors to ensure both groups have an understanding of their expectations of each other.

Nursing faculty teaching characteristics as perceived by nursing students: an integrative review

“…Such results were attributed to nursing students’ preference for nursing competence rather than the personal attributes of their teacher . Similar findings were noted in a study involving Hong Kong and Jamaican student nurses . Faculty ‘personal attributes’ were also identified as the least important nursing faculty characteristic among nursing students .…”

“…In two separate studies conducted in the United States, American nursing students identified the availability, approachability and interpersonal skills of their nurse instructors as being the main characteristics of an effective clinical teacher (44,47). The same results were obtained in four studies conducted in Taiwan (24), Jordan (27), Jamaica (50) and Iran (42), respectively. In particular, the same domain of teaching behaviours (interpersonal skills) was rated as being the most important.…”

“…Twenty‐nine articles were included for review. Nineteen (68%) studies were conducted in Asia , five were from North America , one was from Europe , two were from Africa and one was from Oceania , respectively.…”

“…In Jamaica, secondyear level nursing students ranked interpersonal skills and teaching skills as the most desirable, while third-year level nursing students ranked 'evaluation practices' and 'professional competence' as most important. Interestingly, both groups of nursing students identified personality traits of the nursing faculty as the least important attribute (50).…”

“…Interpersonal skills. Interpersonal skills were the next commonly identified effective characteristics of nursing faculty (24,27,34,42,44,47,48,50,51). Being genuine, caring, empathetic, respectful, approachable and supportive have all been suggested as important dimensions of interpersonal skills (39,51,56).…”