Contributing Factors in Attainment of Teaching Competency for Nursing Instructors: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: Acquiring teaching competency by nursing teachers is the basis for their capability in proper transfer of knowledge to their students and consequently quality improvement in nursing care services. This article as a part of a qualitative study, investigated the factors influencing attainment of teaching competency by nursing teachers. Methods: This qualitative study was performed from May 2011 until February 2012 by grounded theory approach. Using purposeful sampling method, 11 nursing teachers were selected from schools of nursing and midwifery of Tehran province. Data was collected through 16 semi-structured in-depth interviews. All interviews were recorded and then transcripted. Data collection and analysis were performed simoultanously using comparative analysis for analyzing data. Results: Data was categorized into two main categories of internal and external factors based on mutual connotations. Internal factors included individual characteristics, performance features, and educational experiences of the teacher. External factors included organizational and environmental situations. Each factor, having its own dimensions and features, entailed some challenges for nursing teachers to attain teaching competency. Despite these challenges, nursing teachers’ interest in nursing profession and their viewpoint toward the concept of competency played the most important role throughout their competency attainment process. Conclusion: Individual characteristics of nursing teachers and their viewpoints toward nursing and teaching competency concept, affect these teachers’ experiences in attaining teaching competency. If nursing teachers consider individual factors positively, the role of social, environmental, and organizational barriers will act marginal in competency attainment process and nursing teachers will go through successfully. Therefore, paying attention to these factors in nursing faculty development could lead to helpful consequences in nursing education improvement