Nursing students' perspective of clinical instructor behaviours that enhance students self confidence as a nurse

ABSTRACT

Gaining self-confidence as a nurse is an essential aspect of the nursing student's professional developement. The purpose of this study was to determine clinical instruction behaviours that fourth and first year nursing students perceived as important in promoting their self-confidence. One hundred and sixty senior nursing students and 122 junior nursing students in baccalaureate programme rated 17 clinical teaching behaviours as to the degree that each helped or hindered their self-confidence as nurses. Analysis of these behaviours revealed five dimensions of clinical teaching that characterized the instructor as resource, evaluator, encourager, promoter of patient care and benevolent pesence. Behaviours contributing to the dimensions of clinical instruction other than evaluation were rated by the two groups of students as helpful in the development of their self-confidence as nurses. Students' responses to open-ended questions provided further evidence of the importance of the non-evaluation dimensions. Focusing on the evaluation to the exclusion of other aspects of clinical teaching may impede nursing students' professional development