Nursing students and instructors perception of an effective clinical teaching behaviours

Abstract

This study was conducted to (1) investigate whether the perception of effective clinical teaching behaviour differ among nursing schools; (2) identify whether or not discrepancies existed between the perception of students and instructors on teaching effectiveness; and (3) identify which characteristics of the clinical instructor are deemed most important by subjects' institution and status. A modified research tool developed by previous investigators, was circulated among the nursing students and instructors found in Jimma, Gondar, and Addis Abeba. The fool listed 25 characteristics of clinical teachers to be rated, using a 5 point Likert-type scale, from "of most importance" to " of no Importance". For statistical analysis the items were categorically placed under 3 factors that would be most interpretable in terms of a common theme. To compare the responses of subjects, analysis of variance was applied to the data. Results revealed while all the schools agreed on the importance of all the factorized items (mean>3.5) they differed significantly (P<0.05) with regard to their degree of importance, where it was maximum for Gondar (mean4.4) and least for Jimma (mean=3.6). The study also suggests that while both students and instructors agreed on the importance of all the factorized items (mean>3.5), they differed significantly (P<0.05) with regard to the degree of importance where they are maximum for instructors (mean 4.3). Although respondents valued the skills involving competencies (factor-1) and teaching competencies (factor-3) more than consideration for students (factor-2), there was no significant difference between the means of these factors (P>0.05). This study shows that the clinical teaching characteristics specified in the survey tool can at least serve tvo functions: (1) guide or direct nursing instructors in the endeavour to improve the quality of practical teaching practices and (2) evaluate the nursing, teaching, and interpersonal behaviours of pracical instructors