Understanding the persona of clinical instructors: the use of students' doodles in nursing research.

BACKGROUND

While it is true that understanding the attributes and unique distinction of the nursing faculty has been the subject of most of the studies, little is known about how the use of doodles can help surface the persona of the clinical instructors.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to capture the essence or the lebenswelt of the concept of "clinical instructor" from the lens of students' doodles which have been considered as a powerful qualitative tool in articulating individual experiences.

METHOD

A total of 195 senior nursing students recruited from a comprehensive university in the Philippines were the subjects in this qualitative study. Data were gathered from self-generated illustrations and written explanations made by the subjects to identify their concept of effective and ineffective clinical instructors. Phenomenological reduction was observed through a repertory grid, where doodles drawn were listed, categorized and thematised to reveal the qualities of the clinical instructor.

CONCLUSIONS

The subjective nature of the findings, though not generalizable, has surfaced how doodling can be a potent tool in identifying collective interpretation of the essence of health professions construct such as the one under study. The doodles revealed that an effective clinical instructor (enlightening, engaging and embracing) is one who is able to facilitate the learning of the students as well as being able to establish a harmonious learning atmosphere for and with the students. On the other hand, an ineffective clinical instructor (detrimental, dangling, and disturbing) impedes students' development in the clinical practice by causing conflict through their personal attitudes and their teaching strategies. This can have benefits for clinical instructors, to improve themselves and realize the impact of their attributes to the clinical learning of students.