An Orientation Program to Improve Teaching Competency in Clinical Nurse Faculty

A critical component of undergraduate nursing education is learning the hands-on skills of a nurse in the clinical setting. The problem with providing that clinical instruction is the lack of experienced and qualified clinical faculty (AACN, 2015). Due to the urgent need for clinical faculty to teach students in the clinical environment, hiring nurses with strong clinical skills addresses the immediate need although these nurses have little or no experience teaching. Sending inexperienced educators into the clinical environment without adequate preparation presents a number of problems for the new faculty as well as the students. The purpose of the pilot project was to determine the impact of a formal orientation program on improving clinical teaching competency for Clinical Nurse Faculty (CNF).

Using a pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design, faculty recently hired to teach clinicals were asked to participate. The project consisted of the subjects completing a self-assessment utilizing the Clinical Teaching Competency Inventory (CTCI), which is a reliable and valid instrument for clinical nursing preceptors to self-evaluate competence in providing clinical instruction (Hsu, Hsieh, Chiu & Chen, 2014). The subjects then attended a structured orientation program, after which the CNF taught one clinical rotation. Upon completion of teaching a clinical rotation, the CNF were asked to complete the CTCI again.

The post-intervention data is currently being collected and will be entered into a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet and imported into IBM SPSS Statistics version 23 program. Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze and report sample characteristics and to perform preliminary analyses for the assumption of normality. If the assumption is met, a parametric Paired Samples t-test will be used to determine if there is a significant difference in scores from pre to posttest. If the assumption is not met, the non-parametric alternative, Wilcoxon Signed Test will be used.

The findings from the project will be shared as analysis will be completed at time of presentation. Regardless of the findings, schools of nursing find themselves in need of CNF. In order to meet the needs of the students in the clinical environment, experienced nurses are hired from the bedside and placed in a teaching role without adequate preparation, lacking the competence needed to be an effective educator. An orientation program is clearly needed, as evidenced in the literature review, to improve the competence of the bedside nurse who is transitioning to the role of CNF. The “nuts and bolts” needed to develop a clinical faculty orientation will be provided.