Role of Clinical Instructors in Managing Student Learning Towards a Management Enhancement Framework

This study examined clinical instructors’ role in managing student learning in clinical areas, focusing on teaching effectiveness, students’ clinical competency, and instructional challenges. A descriptive-correlational design involved 20 clinical instructors and 100 nursing students with direct clinical learning experience. Structured questionnaires assessed five dimensions of teaching effectiveness and four dimensions of clinical competency. Analyses included frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, Pearson correlation, one-way analysis of variance, and independent-samples t-tests. Both respondent groups rated teaching effectiveness as highly manifested across all dimensions. Instructors rated students’ clinical knowledge application (M = 3.47, SD = 0.62) and clinical skills (M = 3.42, SD = 0.64) as manifested, whereas students rated these dimensions as highly manifested. Patient interaction and ethical practice were highly manifested in both groups. All teaching-effectiveness dimensions were positively and significantly associated with clinical competency; coefficients ranged from .588 to .875 among instructors and .430 to .830 among students. No significant differences were found across the instructor and student profile categories examined. Challenges were encountered often, particularly time constraints, workload, supervision demands, student preparedness, resources, and feedback. The proposed Clinical Learning Management Enhancement Framework integrates instructor capacity development, structured supervision and feedback, student competency development, a supportive learning environment, and continuous improvement. The findings support coordinated instructional and institutional measures to strengthen clinical learning management.