The questioning skills of nursing instructors

The analysis of the 30-minute audiotapes of post-clinical conferences recorded for this study clearly demonstrated the need for inservice education in the instructional skill required to conduct post-clinical conferences. While the nursing knowledge and expertise of the instructors was evident, many conferences consisted of a student recital of tasks performed and a description of a patient's diagnosis, medications and treatment. Such enumeration of data does little to foster the cognitive processes required to nurse. An instructional skill of documented importance in post-clinical conferences is that of asking thought-provoking, stimulating questions. While both students and teachers perceive this skill to be highly desirable, there is substantiated evidence that nursing instructors generally lack this the cognitive level of questions posed by nursing instructors during post-clinical conferences.