When I look back on my clinical instructors, I think about what made them effective and what was important to me. The instructors I connected with the most were objective, flexible with teaching techniques, knowledgeable about the patient population, pushed me to expand my skills and confidence level, allowed me to make mistakes and come up with solutions, emphasized the importance of safe nursing practice, demonstrated ethical practice, provided constructive feedback in a timely manner, promoted group work, and had clear expectations about assignments and patient care. I think it is important to push students and new nurses to find themselves and expand their knowledge so they can be successful when they are practicing on their own. Adults learn using a multitude of techniques and instructors must be flexible to effectively reach all of their students. These are some of the qualities noted in our weekly reading assignment, along with some that are important to my learning needs.
The instructor I did not work well with was not objective and often was hypocritical of students. She modeled a behavior and when some students followed her role modelling she would discipline them, including adding comments into their student file which followed them throughout their career. This was perceived negatively by students and led to a lack of respect for this instructor. I knew at that point if I ever worked with students or new nurses I would be a good role model and provide honest, impartial feedback.
I believe I demonstrate many of the qualities of a good clinical instructor. I am working to improve some of my skills including providing feedback, having clear expectations, and allowing for correction of mistakes. It is difficult to allow mistakes but the important thing is correcting them prior to patient contact. I have been working on my interventions when a nurse makes a mistake and how I approach the situation. I am more objective with my interaction with the nurse and allow them to see what the error is, why it is important, and how they can prevent making the same or a similar error in the future.
I have been a preceptor for a new nurse over the past few weeks. I have pushed her to acknowledge her strengths and weaknesses each shift. I have challenged her to come up with solutions to issues while providing guidance from my experiences. I have educated her on available resources so she will feel confident to ask questions when she is on her own. I have noticed a difference in her practice since we started working together. Each shift she adds new skills to her practice while improving on the ones she has currently. She has identified areas she wants to improve in her practice, such as the critical thinking aspect of putting pieces together for each patient. One comment she made to me was, “I want to be able to do things like you. I want to be able to look at the patient’s medications and know what needs to be adjusted based on what is happening with them right now.” I told her that is the critical thinking aspect of nursing which comes with experience and it is important that she understands how crucial it is for her practice. During our first week together she was working on required education modules. She said she was having difficulty paying attention and wished it was more like a lecture in school. I showed her how to print off notes for each module and encouraged her to use these to follow along with the teachings in order for her to get more out of the modules. She tried this and said it worked out well for her. She said she was going to tell other nurses in her residency program who were also struggling with the same issue so they could get the necessary information. This week when we were discussing her goals I asked her what she thought her goals should be and she said critical thinking. I told her that was a great goal and asked her how she felt about her prioritization of patient needs. She agreed she needs to work on this in order to be able to be on her own. I challenged her to figure out a way to organize and prioritize her shift. I gave her specific examples of prioritization needs based on the past 3 shifts of working together. I provided her with some thoughts and examples of ways to get started and encouraged her to use the talent she has with technology to develop a system that works for her. We talked about how it might not be perfect initially but she will figure out what works for her and adjust it to make something productive for her practice.
Starting this program has pushed me to look at how I interact with others and how I can be an effective instructor. I am working to implement strategies from my readings and personal experiences to improve my teaching skills. I think reflecting over my career has helped me to see what I have been successful with and where I can improve to be the best instructor possible.