Certified nursing assistants (CNAs), registered nurses (RNs), and physicians (MDs) all receive an education that consists of two parts: classroom study and clinical learning. Students are most familiar with classroom studies, which include textbook reviews, reading other sources, lectures, and written examinations. Clinical work entails teaching and learning in a patient-centered environment like a clinic or hospital. In a clinical or patient-based setting, a clinical instructor supervises students. A clinical instructor assesses a student’s practical application of classroom knowledge, proficiency in required techniques, communication quality, and ability to organize patient care in this setting.
One of the primary responsibilities of a clinical instructor is to evaluate a student’s practical application of medical or nursing theory. This skill necessitates more than the student’s rote memorization of a disease’s causes and symptoms. Rather, the details of the disease and its treatment must be comprehended in a seamless manner. The clinical instructor accomplishes this assigning appropriate patients to each student, evaluating the thoroughness of each student’s written patient care plan, and observing the student as he assesses and cares for the patients. An effective clinical instructor does not micromanage or leave a student to fend for himself when it comes to patient care.
A clinical instructor’s other job responsibilities include teaching proper procedure and techniques. Topics in a nursing program could include things like changing a sterile dressing, performing a respiratory assessment, starting an intravenous line, and removing wound sutures. The instructor may perform the procedure while explaining all of the steps to a group of students, or talk a student through the procedure step step, depending on the topic and how difficult it is to master. Most clinical programs require students to demonstrate proficiency in a specific set of skills to their clinical instructors in order to pass the course. Instructors evaluate students’ efforts and assign a “pass/fail” grade with suggestions for future improvement.
A clinical instructor’s responsibilities also include assessing students’ patient communication and care organization abilities. These skill sets have fewer absolutes, so instruction must focus on the overall theory behind recommended actions while also demonstrating concrete actions. For example, after teaching students how to use open-ended questions with patients, an instructor may demonstrate this method in a patient conversation. A clinical instructor also goes over the organization of each student’s care plans with them and teaches them about prioritization and flexibility in patient care.