Abstract:
The aim of this qualitative study was to explore four contract clinical tutors’ perceptions
of their role in facilitating Bachelor of Nursing students’ learning in the practice setting
of the health sector in New Zealand. Participants were asked to share their personal
experiences including the positive aspects and the difficulties and challenges they
encountered when working with students.
Contract clinical tutors, are employed because of their clinical experience and expertise
to enable students to apply the knowledge learned in theory and the professional
competencies learned in the laboratory into the reality of clinical practice. This requires
that clinical tutors be familiar with the curriculum so their role as supervisor, teacher,
facilitator, guide and mentor can assist the student in fulfilling their learning
requirements when in clinical practice. They are not, however, involved in the
development or the teaching of the theoretical component of the programme. The
difficulties and challenges identified by the contract clinical tutors in this study, resulted
in discussion concerning strategies that could be adopted by the faculty to support
clinical tutors in their role of ensuring the students receive the best possible learning
opportunities when assigned to the clinical areas.
Focus group interviews were chosen as a means of collecting data from four registered
nurses currently or previously employed as contract clinical tutors to work with students
from an undergraduate degree programme at a small polytechnic. A two-hour focus group interview was held as a means of uncovering the shared
thoughts and experiences of participants. A second focus group interview was
conducted to qualify information and elaborate on some issues. From the data collected
a number of recommendations were identified which if adopted by polytechnics will
enhance quality teaching by contract clinical tutors.
