Qualities Of A Good Clinical Instructor

Qualities of a good clinical instructor include three domains

  1. Professional and Nursing Competence
  2. Relationships with Students
  3. Personality Traits and Personal Attributes (Girija, 2012).

Within the domain of Professional and Nursing Competence as a clinical instructor I plan to:

  • Bring nursing expertise to the area of clinical education through my years of experience in various nursing roles including staff nurse, nurse manager, clinical nurse specialist, and nurse practitioner.
  • Develop critical thinking skills in students by working with them to apply what they have learned in the classroom or past experience to the present clinical problem. This can be done when having post clinical discussions or one on one discussion as a preceptor at the end of the day.  This is a key component of competence for the advanced practice nurse as well as any role in nursing.
  • Evaluate students objectively and fairly as well as provide constructive feedback after each clinical day or rotation. This is an important skill to attain as a preceptor of advanced practice nurses. Utilizing the “micro skills model” can be used to develop the student-instructor relationship and foster learning ((Koharchik & Redding, 2016).
  • Exhibit good communication skills. It is important to be able to communicate with many different disciplines in order to provide quality patient care.   It is especially important to be a role model in utilizing positive communication skills especially in negative interactions with staff or patients (Girija, 2012).

Within the domain of Relationships with Students as a clinical instructor I plan to:

  • Communicate openly and encourage expression of opinions while being respectful and supportive to students (Koharchik & Redding, 2016).  As I precept students I typically share my various roles in nursing, some of my experiences through the years.   I also typically try to get to know something about them outside of nursing.

Within the domain of Personality Traits and Personal Attributes as a clinical instructor I plan to:

  • Be approachable, patient, and flexible by having a positive attitude, setting guideline expectations, however encouraging the student to be an advocate for themselves.
  • Have an organized course of instruction, be creative and well prepared, and maintain a sense of humor (even when things don’t go just right).
  • And lastly pass on my passion for nursing to others (Girija, 2012)

 

References

Girija, K. M. (2012). Effective Clinical Instructor– A Step Toward Excellence in Clinical Teaching. International Journal of Nursing Education, 4(1), 25-27.

Koharchik, L., & Redding, S. R. (2016). Strategies for successful clinical teaching. AJN American Journal of Nursing, 116(7), 62-65.