Evaluating the nursing and educational perspectives of nurse instructors

The nursing and educational perspectives of nurse instructors (NIs) were compared. Three nursing perspectives (professional, vocational and technical) and two educational perspectives (inner teaching and outer teaching) were measured by quantitative methods. The evaluation of the perspectives was carried out by a questionnaire (sent to 268 NIs, of whom 72% responded) with both closed-ended and open-ended questions. Factor analysis produced the following factors: 1) a technical nursing perspective and an outer teaching perspective (unqualified NIs and older NIs had a more technical nursing perspective and a more marked outer teaching perspective); 2) a professional nursing perspective; and 3) an inner teaching perspective. It was shown by discriminant analysis that NIs displaying features (2) and (3) were qualified NIs.