DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING STRATEGIES TO PREPARE NURSING INSTRUCTORS FOR CLINICAL TEACHING'S COMPETENCIES

Abstract Background: Clinical nursing education is a highly complex process shaped by several influencing factors, among which the competencies of clinical nursing instructors (CNIs) are critical in determining the quality of practicum experiences and supporting students’ professional development. Aim: to prepare clinical nursing instructors for clinical teaching’s competencies through designing and implementing the preparation strategies. Methods: Methodological design used to develop the validity and reliability of the developed strategies, and quasi-experimental design was utilized to estimate the impact of training clinical instructors based on the developed strategies, this study that was conducted at the Faculty of Nursing, AL-Azhar University, Egypt; on a convenient sample of all clinical nursing instructors who train students at clinical settings (35 demonstrators, and 24 clinical nurse instructors).Three tools were utilized as follows:(1)Personal data sheet about clinical instructors. (2)Knowledge questionnaire about nurse educators core competencies practices (71items). Also (3) an observation check list for nurse educators Core competencies (71items) checked by the researcher. Results: There were statistically significant differences in Clinical instructors’ total knowledge of competencies mean scores (χ²=93.794,P=.000) immediately post-training and three months later than pre-training as well as statistically significant differences with marked increase in all dimensions of Clinical instructors’ total practices of competencies mean scores (χ²=88.921,P=.000) immediately post-training and three months later than pre-training. Also, the current study findings revealed a positive statistical significant correlation between the clinical instructors’ total mean scores of competencies of clinical teaching knowledge and their total mean scores of competencies practices at the follow up phase after three months later training(ρ = 1.00, p = 0.00). Finally, There is an agreement of experts from different universities on the validity of the suggested strategies without modification (66.6%), and (33.4%) agree with modification. Conclusion: A valid and reliable preparation strategies were presented in a training program indicating positive effects on clinical instructors’ competencies knowledge and practices. Recommendations: The College should implement mandatory clinical teaching preparation programs for all new and existing clinical nursing instructors before every academic year.