The lived experience of clinical educators

This phenomenological study was undertaken to discover the everyday meanings which clinical educators of pre-registration Bachelor of Nursing students attached to their experiences as clinical educators. The researcher employed a qualitative design using audiotaped in-depth interviews with four registered nurses employed as clinical educators in four different schools of nursing in Victoria, Australia. Using hermeneutics, thematic analysis revealed five themes of meaning central to the lived experiences of clinical educators. They are:(a) being human, (b) having standards, (c) developing own teaching style, (d) learn as you go, and (e) not belonging. The first three themes are described in the literature on clinical education, however, the latter two are unique to this research. The results of this study indicate there is need for extensive preparation and on-going support of clinical educators. The researcher, who is respectful of the enormity of the task which educators face in preparing students for practice, speculates whether clinical educators are the vanguards of student learning in the clinical field. It is evident that the participants of this study did not possess many of the role requirements of clinical educators identified in the literature. Further studies are needed which explore the link between student learning and clinical educator support.