THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GRADUATE PREPARATION AND CLINICAL TEACHING IN NURSING

In recent years, there has been a shift in graduate education from pre paring teachers of nursing to preparing advanced clinicians. Whether t his shift has made a difference in the clinical teaching skills of the nurse educator has not been addressed. The purpose of this study was to survey clinical teachers in nursing schools and examine whether or not courses in educational theory had any relationship to the ''effect iveness'' or ''time spent'' in using various teaching techniques in th e clinical setting. This nonexperimental survey research used a conven ience sample (692) drawn from all National League for Nursing-accredit ed baccalaureate schools. Only three small significant differences wer e found, using the t-test, for effectiveness and time spent in teachin g strategies between faculty with educational preparation when compare d to those without. Although results of this study failed to show sign ificant differences in teaching techniques based on educational prepar ation, they did indicate a need for educational content to prepare for the teaching role. Discussion of preparation for the teaching role is included.