The Effects of Nursing Faculty Approachability on Student Engagement in the Clinical Setting

Despite the emphasis on practice readiness in nursing education, new graduate nurses are still experiencing an education-practice gap with a lack of soft skills such as critical thinking, communication, time management, and collaboration within a team when they enter practice (Mirza et al., 2019). Nursing clinical faculty are in a prime position to decrease this gap and should strive to be approachable to foster a safe learning environment where students feel comfortable engaging in the practice of soft skills. While nursing faculty approachability and student engagement are both desirable in nursing education, no studies had previously been done connecting the two concepts. The purpose of this non-experimental, descriptive, cross-sectional, correlational research study was to explore the effects of nursing faculty approachability on student engagement in the clinical setting. This study was guided by Ryan and Deci’s (2002) self-determination theory was employed to answer the following research question: Q1 What is the relationship between nursing faculty approachability and undergraduate student engagement in the clinical setting? The study sample was drawn from undergraduate nursing students across the country, and a convenience sample of 82 students completed an online survey including demographic questions, the Approachability of Nursing Clinical Instructors Scale (ANCI), and the Student Engagement Questionnaire (Collier, 2020b; Reeve & Tseng, 2011). The correlational tests revealed a moderate correlation between nursing faculty approachability and student engagement in the clinical setting (r = .397, p < .01). No significant correlation was found between demographic variables and the ANCI or Student Engagement Questionnaire. A Pearson’s correlation was run, including the factors of approachability, revealing at least a correlation among all six approachability factors and student engagement. A multivariate linear regression was then performed on all six factors of approachability; the category of indirect interactions was the most strongly correlated, accounting for 18.2% of the Student Engagement Questionnaire. Indirect interactions included non-verbal communication, being flexible to students’ needs, not intimidating students, and maintaining an open body posture. The results of this study identifying a relationship between nursing clinical faculty and student engagement have implications for nursing education. Nursing faculty should be trained on traits of approachability and evaluated using the ANCI scale. This includes faculty not only in clinical but also those who teach in the classroom and clinical settings in an effort to further decrease the education-practice gap. These implications also apply to new graduate nurse preceptors who work closely with novice nurses and could further decrease the education-practice gap.