Why clinical nurse educators adopt innovative teaching strategies: a pilot study

The purpose of this pilot study was to describe intentions to adopt innovative teaching strategies in clinical educators who have participated in an online course focusing on the role of clinical teaching (N = 71). Innovative teaching strategies were defined as those that embrace the tenets of sociocultural theory, a student-centered approach whereby the role of the nurse educator is to motivate and support the student and, in mutual process, to push students to reach toward their learning potential by using guiding techniques that can be erected or gradually reduced based on the individual student's learning needs. Participants stated that three factors proposed in the Rogers theory of diffusion of innovation (compatibility, trialability, and relative advantage) would be most influential in the adoption of innovative teaching strategies. Encouraging students to explore and apply new knowledge was described as the teaching strategy most likely to be adopted. Intent to adopt innovative teaching strategies may provide insight into the development of organizational climates in schools of nursing that could foster needed changes in clinical teaching.