Explaining the inhibitory characteristics of clinical instructors in the process of developing clinical competence of nursing students: a qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Different inhibitory factors may play a role in the process of developing the students’ clinical competence; among them, some of the characteristics of clinical instructors can be considered as the most important factors. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to determine the inhibitory characteristics of instructors in the process of developing clinical competence in nursing students. METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted using the conventional content analysis. Seventeen senior nursing students were selected by purposive sampling method. Individual semistructured interviews were used to collect data. After recording and implementing the interviews, the content analysis was used to extract the concepts. RESULTS: According to participants’ experiences, the three themes, i.e. “autocracy,” “low clinical competence,” and “self-confidence weakness” were extracted as inhibitory features of clinical instructor in the process of developing the clinical competence of nursing students. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study illustrate the characteristics of a clinical instructor, which play an important role in reducing the clinical development and lack of clinical competence development among students.