RESUMEN
Background: Students are not mere followers of teacher instructions, but fully aware and very observant of what differentiates a good clinical preceptor from a poor clinical preceptor and have expectations of how preceptors and clinical teachers should act. This study describes students’ perceptions on the effectiveness of clinical teaching practices of preceptors.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted by using the Clinical Teaching Evaluation (CTE) Questionnaire to determine the level of effective clinical teaching by preceptors in the following areas: nursing expertise, teaching competence, and interpersonal relationship skills, and to identify characteristics (gender, age, program, and year level) associated with effective clinical teaching. The sample was composed of 158 randomly chosen students, Associate Degree Nurses and Associate Degree Midwives years 2 and 3, with clinical experience under preceptors at the 3 Referral Hospitals (Stung Treng, Kratie, and Ratanakiri) in Stung Treng region of Cambodia. Evaluations were ranked on a five-point scale with one being strongly disagree up to five being strongly agree.Results: The mean scores for all items were 0.739. Mean rating scores for effective clinical teaching of preceptors was 3.63, with nursing expertise at 3.72, teaching competence at 3.51, and interpersonal relationship skills at 3.65.Conclusions: The clinical teaching quality of preceptors can be improved by training with appropriate teaching methods with emphasis on effective clinical teaching practices to assist students in clinical competency.