Transitioning from nursing student to clinical teacher in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Despite the remarkable growth in programs and educational facilities in Saudi Arabia (SA) since 1969 when nursing education was introduced, and the influx of government funding to advance nursing education, nursing is often not considered to be a desirable career option or a valued profession in SA. The main socio-cultural reasons contributing to this issue are that nurses traditionally work in mixed-gender environments for long hours and during night shifts, which would cause many female nurses to be away from their families. Thus, newly graduated nurses tend to be employed in roles that are highly respected by society, such as in clinical teaching. However, most novice clinical teachers have not benefitted from front-line nursing experience or formal preparation as educators. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to explore Saudi Arabian nursing clinical teachers’ (CTs) (n = 5) experiences of clinical teaching and engaging in student evaluation while employed in a nursing education program in SA. The findings emphasize the struggles experienced by CTs with clinical teaching roles and responsibilities, including student evaluation. Suggestions regarding how teaching roles, responsibilities, and evaluation could be enhanced are also shared. This study was the first study to explore the experiences of nursing clinical teachers in SA.