Matched Preceptor-Preceptee Learning Styles on Student Self-Efficacy in Midwifery Students

Purpose:  Students with high self-efficacy become more confident and competent midwives. Contributing to the development of self-efficacy in midwifery education is the clinical learning environment, particularly the preceptor-student relationship. Matching student and preceptor learning styles might contribute to the preceptor-student relationship and self-efficacy; however, this hypothesis has not yet been tested. This study aims to examine the impact of matched preceptor-student learning styles on the link between the quality of the preceptor-student relationship and student self-efficacy in midwifery students

Methods:

 This study will use a quantitative approach and a cross-sectional design to enroll a convenience sample of all midwifery program preceptees in Israel (n=75).The procedure will be to ask all three schools’ program directors to encourage their preceptees and preceptors to participate in the study. There will be two questionnaires. The first questionnaire will be for the midwifery students and includes: Prenatal Nursing Self-Efficacy scale, the Clinical Teacher Characteristics Instrument (CTCI), and the VARK (learning styles) questionnaire. The second questionnaire will be for the preceptor and will only include the VARK.

Results:

Expected Contributions: If nursing schools learn that matching preceptor-preceptee learning styles increases preceptees’ self-efficacy and better prepares them to be autonomous practitioners, programs may want to institute this practice (preceptor-preceptee learning styles) into their educational system.

Conclusion:

This study will contribute to midwifery nursing education, training and research. Specifically, this study builds on the knowledge that midwifery nursing preceptors have a great influence on their preceptees, and the advancement and future of midwifery practice in Israel. Preceptees’ perspective of their preceptor is internalized and influences their learning, practice and self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is linked with better performance; consequently, understanding methods to improve self-efficacy is paramount as it is translated into their patient care.

Besides selecting the best preceptors, nursing schools want to pair their students with preceptors who will be the most successful at helping them learn. If nursing schools learn that by matching preceptor-preceptee learning styles, preceptees’ self-efficacy will increase, they may want to institute this practice into their educational system. There is far less literature about the impact of nursing preceptors on midwifery nursing student’s perceptions on self-efficacy.