Beginning nursing students' perceptions of the effective characteristics and caring behaviors of their clinical instructor.

Abstract

Demonstration of caring behaviors and the importance of effective characteristics are identified as important influences in a nursing student-clinical instructor relationship. The purpose of this study was to examine associate and baccalaureate degree traditional and nontraditional nursing students' perceptions of clinical instructors to provide insights into the dynamics of the student-instructor relationship with regard to caring behaviors and effective characteristics in a beginning level clinical setting. Data was collected from a sample of 503 male and female nursing students at the end of 2009 from four accreditated nursing programs located in an urban setting. Findings of this study support the overall reliability of Whitehead's Characteristics of Effective Clinical Instructor Rating Scale (WCECIRS) and the Nursing Student Perception of Instructor Caring (NSPIC) tool as instruments to measure, respectively, effective characteristics and caring behaviors of clinical instructors. Data presented from this study indicates age and gender may influence nursing students' perceptions. Study results of traditional and nontraditional student nurses revealed common and unique perspectives on the importance of a clinical instructor demonstrating effective characteristics. In addition, caring behaviors demonstrated by clinical instructors were identified. Data revealed nursing students, except for baccalaureate nursing students age 33 and over, perceived their clinical instructors demonstrated the highest number of caring behaviors from the subscale of instills confidence through caring. Conversely, associate and baccalaureate degree nursing students perceived some clinical instructors less frequently demonstrated caring behaviors within the subscales of supportive learning climate and appreciation of life's meanings. Some effective characteristics were also perceived as caring behaviors. Nursing students' perceptions of the importance of these effective characteristics and their demonstration as caring behaviors by clinical instructors were presented. Implications for both types of programs are that clinical instructors need to demonstrate caring behaviors to reduce beginning level student nurses anxiety. Clinical instructors in baccalaureate programs need to demonstrate caring behaviors in regards to evaluation procedures. Furthermore, clinical instructors in associate programs need to demonstrate caring behaviors in regards to the flexibility needed for adult learners. An implication for nursing programs is to consider the incorporation of the science of caring into their curriculum.