The effect of preparation strategies, qualification and professional background on clinical nurse educator confidence

The transition of clinical nurses to nurse educator roles - A scoping review

AIM

To explore what is known about the lived experiences of novice nurse educators, including preparation or support strategies that may assist this transition.

BACKGROUND

Despite the crucial role of nurse educators in healthcare, the literature lacks clarity about the role and the preparation and support of nurse clinicians to transition into novice nurse educator roles.

DESIGN

Scoping review METHODS: A scoping review was carried out according to the Joanna Briggs Institute Methodology for Scoping Reviews. The Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature Complete (CINAHL), Medline (OVID), EMBASE, APA PsycINFO and Google Scholar databases were searched for English language sources of evidence between 1992 and 2022. Sources of evidence related to nursing education, transition, lived experience, preparation and support were included.

RESULTS

Fifty-two sources of evidence met the inclusion criteria with most originating in the United States and situated in the academic setting. There were 20 different titles used to identify nurse educators and a lack of clarity relating to the role and its expectations. There was alignment found between the lived experiences of novice nurse educators and Duchscher's transition shock model with a variety of preparation and support recommendations identified to mitigate this transition shock.

CONCLUSION

Clinical nurses transitioning into novice nurse educator roles have a predominantly negative experience that aligns with Duchscher's transition shock model. Although recommendations exist for support and preparation strategies to ease this transition shock, further research is required to establish which of these strategies are effective, especially for novice nurse educators in clinical settings outside of the United States.

Exploring the barriers to Registered Nurses undertaking clinical teaching in clinical settings: A qualitative descriptive study

AIM

The study aimed to explore and describe the barriers affecting Registered Nurses in undertaking clinical teaching in clinical settings. The exploration was based on the experiences of Registered Nurses at a selected teaching hospital in Namibia. The researcher intended to identify strategies that could be used to mitigate the negative effects of barriers to effective clinical teaching.

DESIGN

A qualitative explorative, descriptive and contextual research design was used.

METHODS

Purposive sampling was used to select 16 participants. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews, which were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Clinical teaching is negatively affected by several barriers that hamper clinical teaching and nursing students' learning outcomes. Seven main themes were identified: (1) participants' understanding of clinical teaching; (2) organizational barriers; (3) patient barriers; (4) Registered Nurse barriers; (5) student barriers; (6) training institution barriers; and (7) strategies to mitigate barriers to clinical teaching.

CONCLUSION

The findings revealed that several barriers negatively affect clinical nursing education and hamper the clinical teaching and learning of nursing students.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION

This study may assist in the development of targeted interventions that address the barriers that hinder clinical teaching at teaching hospitals. Additionally, this study could assist in improving the health care that is provided by nursing students to patients. The findings may assist with improved quality by reducing nursing students' theory-practice gap and by promoting collaboration between Registered Nurses and nurse educators in clinical settings.

The development and professionalization of nursing in Vietnam

This article provides a snapshot of the development of nursing education and practice in Vietnam and the impact of historical and socioeconomic factors of the last few decades. The Vietnamese government has played an instrumental role in shaping the professionalization of nursing while also presenting challenges to the evolving profession with its sometimes-conflicting policies/strategies. To tackle these challenges, the increased involvement of nursing experts who have in-depth understanding of contemporary nursing practice is warranted.

The characteristics of an effective clinical instructor from the perspective of nursing students: a qualitative descriptive study in Iran

Background

Clinical instructors have an important role in advancing nursing students to achieve the program objectives. Nursing student perceptions about the characteristics of an effective clinical instructors may help programs improve clinical instruction. As such, the purpose of this study was to understand the characteristics perceived by students to define an effective clinical instructor.

Methods

In this qualitative descriptive study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with undergraduate and postgraduate nursing students. The sample was purposefully selected. MAXQDA software was used for the content analysis. The codes were organized into subcategories and consolidated into categories.

Results

Data saturation was reached with twelve participants, including seven women and five men, between 21 and 36 years of age. General and special characteristics were the two main categories that emerged from the data. These categories were defined by nine subcategories including internal motivation, professional acceptability, clinical competency, teaching skill, clinical experience, values, being a faculty member, appropriate appearance, and communication skills.

Conclusions

Effective clinical instructors have a specific characteristics identified by student. The most important characteristics of effective clinical instructors were related to communication and teaching skills, internal motivation, and professional appearance. More research is necessary to determine the relationship between the characteristics, instructor competency, and student learning outcomes.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12912-021-00556-9.

Australian clinical facilitator professional development needs: A cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Registered Nurses are recruited from clinical positions to work as clinical facilitators, supervising nursing students' clinical learning. Few studies have reported on the capabilities of the group, nor offered clinical facilitators validated tools to support their professional development.

OBJECTIVE

To test the validated Capabilities of Nurse Educator (CONE) questionnaire with expert clinical facilitators. To use the modified CONE to investigate the Australian clinical facilitator capability for the role.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey design.

PARTICIPANTS

A purposive sample of 235 Australian clinical facilitators.

METHOD

Face validity testing was completed with five members of the target group. The modified CONE was emailed to the 235 Australian nurses with a link for the CONE to complete online. Appropriate statistical analysis was applied to the aggregate data.

RESULTS

All 93 items and six subscales remained in the modified CONE following minor rewording, of some items. Eight-one (n = 81) participants responded. Clinical facilitators are committed to supporting students to learn, and to their own life-long learning, however the survey results identified gaps in leadership and research capabilities.

CONCLUSION

The modified CONE is suitable for use with clinical facilitators as both a self-assessment tool and for understanding group professional development needs. The results of this study will be beneficial in the design of future professional development for clinicians working with students in clinical settings.

The effectiveness of partnership models in clinical nursing education - A scoping review

OBJECTIVES

To examine the effectiveness of partnership models in clinical nursing education with regards to cost effectiveness; student employability, work-readiness, confidence, and competence; and stakeholders' satisfaction.

DESIGN

Scoping review.

DATA SOURCES

Research studies published in English were searched electronically through EbscoHost (CINAHL and ERIC), Scopus, Medline (via Ovid), ProQuest Central, and Web of Science databases. Criteria were developed to guide the selection of original studies published in English before 2019 for review.

REVIEW METHODS

Arksey and Malley's framework (2005) and relevant enhancements guided the conduct of the review. An informal appraisal of selected studies was applied.

RESULTS

Two theses and 31 articles with a variation in methodologies, methods, sample sizes, research populations and quality of evidence were included for review. Four themes were identified: (i) Description of partnership models in clinical education, (ii) length of model implementation prior to evaluation, (iii) positive qualitative findings, and (iv) quantitative findings limited by data collection periods and methods.

CONCLUSIONS

Shared among the reviewed studies is stakeholder view of the positive impacts of partnership models on the clinical learning environment, and the increased level of support and individualised instruction for students. However, the use of not fully validated survey instruments and the lack of description about the implementation period before evaluation in many reviewed studies limit the interpretation of quantifiable effect of the partnership models. This review identifies a lack of attention on student employability, work-readiness, cost evaluation, patient perspective, and partnership models in low-income countries. Future research to address these knowledge gaps using high quality data collection methods and rigorous research design is warranted.

Teaching nurses to teach: A qualitative study of nurses' perceptions of the impact of education and skills training to prepare them to teach end-of-life care

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

To explore nurses' perceptions of the impact of a programme designed to train them to teach end-of-life care.

BACKGROUND

Central to national and international policies are the need for generalist healthcare staff to have education in end-of-life care. Much end-of-life care education is provided by specialist nurses who often have no specific education development to prepare them to teach. To address this gap, an Education Development Programme (EDP) was developed and delivered to specialist nurses. We report on the evaluation of the programme.

DESIGN

A qualitative programme evaluation methodology was adopted.

METHODS

Data were collected through focus groups, at three hospice education centres in North West England, with a total of 20 participants. Nurses who had completed the EDP were purposively sampled. Data were digitally audio-recorded and subjected to thematic analysis to organise, reduce and refine the data. Ethical approval was obtained. COREQ guidelines have been adhered to in the reporting of this study.

RESULTS

Two main themes were identified; learning to teach and building skills to change teaching practice. Participants felt more confident and better prepared to teach.

CONCLUSIONS

It cannot be assumed that specialist staff, with teaching in their role, have the skills to facilitate learning. This programme offers a potential method of improving facilitation skills for nurses who have an education element to their role.

RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE

Quality end-of-life care is only possible with a skilled workforce, confident and able to apply the principles of compassionate end-of-life care to everyday practice. Appropriately trained, specialist staff are better able to teach others how to deliver good quality end-of-life care. Specialist staff with teaching responsibilities should be provided with, or engage in, continuous professional development to develop their skills and improve their efficacy when teaching.