Perceived importance of clinical teaching characteristics for nurse anesthesia clinical faculty

This study examined the perceived importance of the 22 characteristics of effective clinical instructors as identified by Katz in 1982. Using a questionnaire survey instrument, a random sample of 354 nurse anesthesia program directors, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist clinical instructors, first-year nurse anesthesia students, and second-year nurse anesthesia students from across the United States participated in this study. The mean scores of importance for each characteristic demonstrate that respondents perceived all 22 characteristics as being very important. When all 22 characteristic mean scores for each group were arranged in descending order by the researcher, no significant difference was found between respondent groups. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that the demographic variables accounted for only an extremely small percentage of the variance. It appears that all four professional groups valued the 22 characteristic and perceived them as critically important to clinical instruction. The researcher suggests that this homogeneity among all four groups may be the result of students' previous exposure to clinical instructors. Findings in this study have implications for guiding nurse anesthesia clinical instructors in their quest for clinical teaching excellence through evaluation and faculty development programs.