Characteristics of competent clinical instructors: a review of the experiences of nursing students and instructors

Background and Purpose: The competence of clinical instructors is regarded as the most significant factor in achieving training goals. Competence is not a single, uniform concept, and different definitions have been proposed by educational organizers including instructors and students. Therefore, this study was performed to review the experiences of nursing students and clinical trainers regarding the characteristics of a competent clinical instructor and explore the concept of clinical competence. Methods: This qualitative study was performed on 22 participants including 12 nursing students and 10 clinical instructors. For data collection, open interviews were conducted and field notes were taken. The obtained data were assessed via content analysis. Results: Based on the analysis of interviews, five major themes related to the competence of clinical instructors emerged. These themes were as follows: "the ability to establish effective communication", "instructor’s academic status", "scholarly knowledge", "clinical competence" and "educational qualifications". Therefore, a competent clinical instructor should have a combination of these characteristics, which work hand in hand and affect each other. Conclusion: Participants' experiences suggested that clinical instructors’ competence is a multi-dimensional concept. Overall, a competent clinical instructor should have a "comprehensive perspective". As the results indicated, the emerging themes were not similar to those reported in previous studies.