What do students prefer in a clinical instructor?

veggiegarden · Aug 4, 2005

I really appreciated how my clinical instructors thus far (I just started first clinicals) were very approachable, fair, warm and supportive. They always greeted us with a genuine smile, frequently checked in on how we were doing, were receptive to questions, gave *lots* of positive feedback and gently gave us constructive criticism. Wonderful. After reading about many of the stories irl and on this board about regarding some clinical experiences, I was honestly prepared for a much harsher time. But I was quite pleasantly surprised. Now, if it could be like this for the rest of clinicals.

Forgot to add, yes, I did like post conference. I has been a good way for us to regroup and casually talk about our day in clinic, laugh and learn about eachother's experiences.

z's playa · Aug 4, 2005

I enjoyed post conference too but given the late time you are finishing...I'd be receptive to NOT doing a post and picking up in a pre conference of the last clinical.

My instructor would shadow us a little and ask questions...gently...no pimping.... :chuckle ...and like the other said.....be great at feedback and suggestions.

I don't expect here/him to be merry sunshine all the time (who is?) ...but pleasant would help.

A reassuring pat on the back is great we found too ! Sometimes the student needs one but doesn't like to be obvious about it.

Z

naggytabby, BSN, RN · Aug 4, 2005

try doing you rpost conference at your midclinical break. always let the students talk more than you, unless you are specifically teaching something. no matter how tempted you are, take a deep breath and step back- don't micromanage, please- my last clinical instructor drove us all crazy with that.

be excited about nursing. i will never forget how my first clincial instructor not only set us up to win (always delightful) but also loved :balloons: being a nurse. we had a big upset on the floor, and she stood by us- and it turned out we were in the right- and advocated for us. we trusted her and she trusted us,a lot of give and take.

be generous with your public praise and save the repimands for private. remember thate very student shines somewhere. theya re invested in their program on many levels, please take the time to invest in them.

i wish you all the best :)

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Aug 4, 2005

Soemthing that sticks out for me, is when my instructor would tell me i did something wrong, she would tell me WHY it's wrong, which helped the right way sink in better.

kristen38 · Aug 4, 2005

I have only had three clinical instructors so far and all of them had been great.

What I really liked about them was that they left me alone. What I mean by that is that they were not hanging over my shoulder when I would go in and talk to a pt. If I was in a room preforming morning care, or just talking to the pt. they would not disturb me or listen in to see how I interacted. They really let us be independent, but were always there to help.

All of them were around when I had to preform skills, give meds, and other stuff. They really listened to what the unit staff had to say about us and how they felt we were with the pt.

My teachers also gave me lots of feedback, but not right after a procedure was done. They let me wait to calm down (if I was nervous, or know that I did not do something right). They were never in my face right away. They also said very little in front of the pt. unless we did something really wrong, other then that they would wait.

I hope that this will help you,

Kristen

crb613, BSN, RN · Aug 4, 2005

The clinical instructor I liked the best & learned the most from was like one of us. Now we all knew she meant business & was known for being strict but I never saw her in a bad mood. She was the kind of person you felt like you had known all your life, very approachable,loved to teach, loved being a nurse & it showed. She did not babysit but seemed to always know what was going on & if you needed her she was there. Any skill you were checked off on she would find you someone to gain experience on. Always before doing a skill she would say now talk me thru it first, then we would go & do it with her there to guide/help if we needed it. We got immediate feedback but it was never harsh she always found a positive to go with the negative if there was one. She would also just come up to you & quizz you on your client... could be meds, s&s to watch for,if their lab says xyz what does that mean?? you had to be on your toes all the time. All I can say if you can't tell by now is she was great!!! I learned & gained more skills/confidence from her than all the rest of my instructors put together. I just hope one day I'll be half the nurse she is! :)

Imafloat, BSN, RN · Aug 4, 2005

My most awesome clinical instructor was very organized. She made a checklist every morning to be sure she got to us. She knew her stuff and was a great nurse. She noticed things that you didn't think she noticed and gave feedback on them. She accentuated the positive and had a fabulous rapport with the nurses on the floor we were on. She never made us feel dumb for asking her to show us how to do something for the third time. She was also a nurse at the hospital we did clinicals at. If she heard an IV beeping or saw a call light go off in a room that wasn't ours she would ask the nurse if they wanted her to take care of it and she would. She was fair and she didn't play favorites. She just had really good instincts. She knew what students could handle what and she assigned patients baded on that. She was fabulous and I am so sad that I won't ever have her again....

It sounds like you are off to a great start, being that you care about being a good instructor, kudos to you!

Altra, BSN, RN · Aug 4, 2005

The standout clinical instructors that I had gave students an opportunity to figure out the next step without "taking over." I realize that an insructor with several students in a clinical setting is dealing with some significant time constraints, but as long as patient safety isn't an immediate issue, give students a few moments to think through a problem/solution.

I understand why you've chosen to forgo post-conference for your students due to the late hour. Is it possible to incorporate some of that into the next day's clinical time, as z's playa suggested? I found post-conference to be valuable -- students got some exposure to patient care situations other than their own, and having to "present" your patient to the group reinforced the "case study" format commonly utilized in other professional and academic settings.

grinnurse, RN · Aug 5, 2005

The best instructor that I had in NS was 2nd semester, which was the semester that we really got into clinicals. I was in her first "real" clinical class to teach. The things that stick out in my mind was that she was approachable and had a great sense of humor even with the dumbest questions. She loved what she was doing and was good at it. She had a positive attitude and didn't treat us like 5 yos. She gave respect to the students and didn't expect us to be perfect. Before performing procedures on pts, she would always have us stop, go through what needed to be done and how would be the best way to accomplish that goal so it took some of the anxiety off and if we missed a step she would give us hints-she never outright told us how to do things.

She gave lots of praise for things done right and never "reprimanded" us in front of the patients. She had the patience of Jobe. On prep-sheets she gave us feedback, but, didn't bleed red on our papers. She was one of the toughest instructors that I had and I learned immensley(sp) from her and that clinical. Our post conferences were fun. Each week in clinicals, a different person had to give a 5 minute presentation on a specific disease that we had in lecture that week and we always passed out candy so that made it even better. 10:30 is a little late but I wouldn't get rid of it all together if you could change the time. This is the time when we all shared what we had learned, what worked or didn't work, and as group, thought up solutions.

Good luck!

twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN · Aug 5, 2005

Within the last two semesters I had the worst clinical instructor and the best.

The worst one. She came in to the first day of clinicals talking about how bad the last group was. Even mentioned specific names. These were people who we took classes with. I was shocked. I thought it VERY unprofessional of her to do that. She also was very good at intimidating students and berating them infront of patients and staff. Some of the group made one mistake, she would come down on them in front of patients, then they would make another mistake from just being so shaken by the last incident. One girl actually had a clean needle stick after one of her tirades. Scared her so much she requested the switch to the other clinical group down the hall. Thankfully they gave it to her. Everyone dreaded going in to clinical every morning we had her.

Now, the best we had was right after the worst and thank God we did. She was fairly new to the faculty so none of us had worked with her before. During her course we all had to take 2-3 patients each which was something none of us had done yet. She eased us into it. The first day, we did one patient with no meds just to get used to the floor. The second day we had either two patients with meds or three patients without meds. She would take us aside and individually go over each of our cases with labwork. Then she would ask us what nursing actions we should take according to our findings or give us what if questions. She also gave us stories about personal experiences from Critical Care. She gave us praises for things done right and told us when we did things wrong but also told us what to do next time. Plus she had a very gentle nature even for someone who worked in Critical Care and never raised her voice once. Nor did she ever need to.

OBRN2004 · Aug 5, 2005

My very favorite clinical instructor was big on positive feedback! She also made herself available "ALL THE TIME." She gave us her office, home, and pager numbers and her email. We had no excuse not to do well. She even told us that if we were up studying and got stuck or needed help to call no matter what time. If we hadn't learned it yet, her job wasn't done. She is the only instructor that I had, that offered that. Of course we never had to call her too late, because she was the most awesome instructor. Anyway, I it sounds a little extreme, but by far I will remember her willingness to help! :yelclap: