Clinical supervisors’ preparedness for clinical teaching of undergraduate nurses at a university in the Western Cape

Abstract

Clinical supervisionis crucial for the development of nursing students’ clinical competence;therefore, clinical supervisors need to beclinical experts.Inadequately prepared clinical supervisors can negativelyaffectclinical teaching, consequently resulting in poor clinical teaching and inadequate integration of theory and practice. This ultimately impactspatients’health outcomes. The perceptions of clinical supervisors’preparedness for clinical teachingwereexplored using a qualitative exploratory design.Semi-structured interviewswere conducted with 12 clinical supervisors in anundergraduate programme.An inductive approach to data analysis generated four themes:1)concrete experience centred on clinicalsupervisors’ positive experiences and challenges;2)clinical supervisors’ application of the prescribed Skills Laboratory Methodology;3) challenges that clinical supervisors face during clinical teaching;and 4) learning needs of clinical supervisors. Thekey findingshighlight that although they are orientated, clinical supervisors need timeto adaptandimprove their knowledge and skills.