A study of clinical instruction practice of nurse educators and problems thereof

Abstract
This study deals with the clinical instruction practice of nurse educators and problems or constraints they encounter during clinical teaching. It is a descriptive survey that attempted to:- (1) elicit the views of nurse educators regarding their role in clinical instruction; (2) determine the extent to which nurse educators participate in clinical instruction; (3) identify and describe what nurse educators consider to be the major constraints in clinical instruction. The experiential learning theory formed the conceptual framework of the study. The institutions targeted were Nursing Colleges located in Regions D, G and H of KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa. A questionnaire was used to elicit information from nurse educators directly engaged in the education and training of student nurses undergoing the basic comprehensive four year diploma programme at afore-mentioned institutions. The findings indicated that nurse educators view assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of clinical teaching and learning as their ideal function. However, several problems and constraints (both at college and clinical area) were identified by nurse educators as militating against effective execution of clinical teaching. Some of the problems mentioned include overload of work, lack of clinical facilities and negative attitude by some nurse educators and student nurses towards clinical teaching and learning.
Description
Submitted to the Faculty of Arts in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Nursing Science at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1999.
Keywords
Nurse educators, Clinical instruction practice
Citation