Clinical Instructor Characteristics, Behaviors and Skills in Allied Health Care Settings: A Literature Review

Abstract

The purpose of this literature review is to compare both clinical instructor and student perceptions of helpful and hindering clinical instructor characteristics, behaviors and skills in athletic training and allied health care settings. Clinical education in athletic training is similar to that of other allied health care professions. Clinical education is used to practice didactic information in a hands-on environment, with the goal of integrating theory and practice in a controlled setting. Students are taught skills, behaviors and attitudes required to enter into professional practice. Athletic training clinical education evolved from the medical education model for training physicians and is currently based on the nursing model. Other allied health care professionals employ similar practices. Objective: To provide an overview of helpful and hindering clinical instructor characteristics, behaviors and skills in athletic training and in other allied health professions. Data Sources: MEDLINE, Health Source: Nursing/Academic, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Academic Search Premier, ERIC and PsychArticles served as the data sources for the allied health fields that included athletic training, nursing, medicine, optometry, clinical psychology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech and language pathology, radiography. Data Synthesis: Athletic trainer, allied health profession, and student perceptions of clinical instructor characteristics, behaviors and skills were reviewed and summarized. Conclusions/Recommendations: This review presents literature suggesting that clinical education, regardless of the profession or setting, contains similarities. Clinical instructor characteristics, behaviors and skills are important and need to be the focus of clinical education in order to promote helpful, while minimizing hindering, behaviors. Effective clinical instructors enhance the learning process. Focusing on improved supervisor and supervision services should be employed to teach athletic trainers helpful clinical instructor behaviors.

Challenges Faced by Preceptors Serving in Dual Roles as Health Care Providers and Clinical Educators

“…Poor interactions between students and preceptors hinder education. 17 Therefore, we speculate that preceptors who are not invested in their students' education are not well suited to serve as preceptors. It then falls to the clinical education coordinator to carefully select clinical sites and match students and preceptors thoughtfully.…”

The Impact Of Matched Preceptorship-Relations On Midwifery Education Students' Self-Efficacy

“…Developing a close and caring bond between preceptor and preceptee was found to be vital among general nursing preceptees (Gray & Smith, 2000;Lee, 1996;Neary, 1997); however, no studies on this relationship were found regarding midwifery preceptees and their preceptors. Strong interpersonal skills are necessary (Levy et al, 2009). A synthesis of qualities in preceptee-preceptor relationships suggests that preceptees valued the following in the preceptor: confidence, realistic expectations, honesty, accessibility, openness and availability (Bergman & Gaitskill, 1990;Madhavanprabhakaran et al, 2013).…”

“…One study noted that in Middle Eastern countries, preceptees believed that the preceptor's clinical competence was the most important characteristic (Madhavanprabhakaran et al, 2013). Other qualities of professional competence are commitment to the preceptee and integration of theory into practice (Bergman & Gaitskill, 1990), interest in the preceptees (Levy et al, 2009), good communication skills with regular feedback (Gray & Smith, 2000;Letizia & Jennrich, 1998;Madhavanprabhakaran et al, 2013;Myrick, 2002;Myrick & Barrett, 1994;Myrick & Young, 2001), and inspiration of the preceptee to practice confidently in the clinical environment (Happell, 2009).…”

Pengaruh Penerapan Sistem Mentor Terhadap Pencapaian Keterampilan Klinik Asuhan Persalinan Mahasiswa Akademi Kebidanan Muhammadiyah Cirebon (Suatu Studi Eksploratif di Akademi Kebidanan Muhammadiyah Cirebon)

“…Hal ini mempengaruhi proses pembelajaran klinik, sehingga menjadi kurang optimal sehingga berdampak pada pencapaian kompetensi mahasiswa. [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Saat ini penanggung jawab kegiatan praktik klinik kebidanan di institusi pendidikan bidan adalah seorang koordinator. Sistem koordinator pada praktik klinik kebidanan yang selama ini berjalan terbukti belum mampu meningkatkan keterampilan klinik mahasiswa.…”