A Clinical Teaching Blended Learning Program to Enhance Registered Nurse Preceptors' Teaching Competencies: Pretest...

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Healthcare Professional Development

Background:

• Clinical nursing education is crucial for developing student competence and professionalism.
• Nurse preceptors play a vital role in integrating theory with practice and enhancing critical thinking skills.
• Previous research highlights the transferability of nurse preceptor teaching competencies to student learning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a clinical teaching blended learning (CTBL) program incorporating web-based clinical pedagogy (WCP) and case-based learning for nurse preceptors.
• To evaluate the CTBL program's effectiveness on nurse preceptors' clinical teaching competencies, self-efficacy, and attitudes toward web-based learning.
• To assess the impact of the CTBL program on blended learning outcomes for nurse preceptors.

Main Methods:

• A quasi-experimental, single-group pretest-posttest design was employed.
• 150 nurse preceptors participated in the CTBL program from September to December 2019.
• Questionnaires assessed clinical teaching competence, preceptor self-efficacy, attitudes toward web-based learning, and e-learning experience before and after the program.

Main Results:

• Participants demonstrated significant improvements in clinical teaching competence (P<.001).
• Nurse preceptors showed significant increases in self-efficacy (P<.001) and positive attitudes toward web-based continuing learning (P<.001).
• The program led to significantly better blended learning outcomes (P<.001).

Conclusions:

• The CTBL program effectively enhances clinical teaching competencies and self-efficacy in nurse preceptors.
• The blended learning approach, combining WCP and case-based learning, accommodates diverse learning needs and is manageable for preceptors.
• Healthcare organizations should consider integrating flexible learning platforms for preceptorship education to improve clinical teaching quality.