Evaluation of competencies of built-in preceptors and clinical instructors: A basis for proposed focus program Boralla, Easter B. 6

Thesis (M.A.) Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, 2009;A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate School of Health and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Nursing 56

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ABSTRACT: This is study sought to evaluate the competencies needed by built-in preceptors and clinical instructors as a basis for the development of proposed focused program as perceived by the level IV nursing students. This study sought to answer the questions: what is the demographic profile of built-in preceptors and clinical instructors in terms of length of teaching experience, length if hospital experience, and highest educational attainment?, is there a significant difference between the demographic profile of built-in preceptors and clinical instructors?, what is the competency of built-in preceptors and clinical instructors?, what is the competency of built-in preceptors and clinical instructors in the following: facilitate learning, facilitate learner development and socialization, use assessment and evaluation strategies, participate in curriculum design and evaluation of program outcomes, function as a change agent and leader, pursue continuous quality improvement in the nurse educator role, engage in scholarship, and function within the educational environment?; is there a significant difference between the competencies of built-in preceptors and clinical instructors in the above 8 competencies; and based on the results of the study, what focus program can be proposed? Stratified random sampling was used, obtaining a total of 600 level IV nursing student respondents, 300 of which were handled by built-in preceptors and 300 were handled by clinical instructors of Far eastern University-Manila. A self-made test or questionnaire was used, wherein the core competencies evaluated was based from the Core Competencies of Nurse Educators made by the National League for Nursing Validation of questionnaire was done by three expert persons. Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used to determine the reliability of the questionnaire. Statistical treatment utilized in this research was: percentage distribution, weighted mean, Chi-sqaure, and t-test at 0.05 level of significance. Results were analyzed and interpreted, after which conclusions were drawn. The findings with regards to the demographic profile are the length of teaching experience is significantly different. Clinical instructors have longer teaching experience which mostly was on 7 years or more than the built-in preceptors who have 3 years or less; the length of hospital experience between the built-in preceptors and clinical instructors has no difference wherein both have an average of 1-10 years of hospital experience, and there are no differences with regards to highest educational attainment between built-in preceptors and clinical instructors wherein both have the same highest educational attainment of Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree with units in Master of Arts in Nursing (MAN). The competencies among the built-in preceptors and clinical instructors with the 8 competencies being asked which are: facilitating learning, facilitate learner development and socialization, use assessment and evaluation strategies, participate in curriculum design and evaluation of program outcomes, function as change agent and leader, pursue continuous quality improvement in the nurse educator role, engage in scholarship; and function within the educational environment, are all very good while the needed competencies among built-in preceptors and clinical instructors as perceived by nursing students differ significantly. A proposed focus program entitled Strengthening the Competencies of Built-in Preceptors and Clinical Instructors was developed based on lowest ranked weighted mean for each item from the eight competencies being evaluated. Based on the findings and conclusions, the researcher recommends for the utilization of the focus Program developed in this study to further strengthen the competencies among built-in preceptors and clinical instructors; for the Built-in Preceptors and Clinical Instructors to improve on their lowest competencies for the college of nursing administrators to conduct regular competency evaluation; For the Regulatory Bodies to formulate competency guidelines and lastly; for future researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of the Focus Program suggested in this study.

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