Clinical Instructor Teaching Behavior: Its Effect on Student Nurse Self-Efficacy

Background: Clinical instructors play a significant role in the education and training of professional nurses. Students observe the behavior of their instructor and adopt this behavior in their work. Clinical nursing instructor’s behaviors affect the learning of students. If the clinical instructor is good with students in the workplace, the learning outcome will be positive. Aim: To assess the effect of clinical instructor teaching behavior on student nurses’ self-efficacy. Research design: A descriptive quantitative correlational research design was used to conduct this study. Setting: Data were collected from students in the third and fourth levels of the Faculty of Nursing, Kafrelsheikh University. Subjects: This study included one group of student nurses attending nursing courses in the third and fourth levels of the Faculty of Nursing, Kafrelsheikh University (n = 422). Tools: Data were collected using two tools and send electronically by the researcher to disseminated through electronic Google Forms: Tool (I), The Revised Survey on Clinical Instructor Behavior; Tool (II), Self-Efficacy Formative Questionnaire. Results: The clinical instructor teaching behavior total score was significantly correlated with the Belief in Personal Ability domain score and the Belief That Ability Grows with Effort domain score (r = 0.571 and r = 0.683, respectively; p < 0.001). Moreover, the clinical instructor behavior total score was significantly correlated with the self-efficacy total score (r = 0.712, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The student participants rated clinical instructor behavior as “helped very much,” indicating that it is more effective in improving student nurse self-efficacy. Recommendations: The faculty administrator must ensure that clinical instructors are aware of crucial clinical behavior features, and instructional tactics and attitudes can be reinforced, adjusted, or developed to help students see clinical learning as a beneficial experience.