Students' Perceptions on Online Clinical Learning amid the COVID-19 Pandemic in an Institution of Higher Learning: A Qualitative Inquiry.

Institutions of learning have been disrupted globally with serious implications for clinical teaching for students of health professions. The purpose of our study was to explore the perceptions of students towards online clinical teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic at Fatima College of Health Sciences. This was a descriptive qualitative study conducted on a purposive sample of 25 students from 24 June to 30 August 2020. The sample size was determined by data saturation. These were mainly nursing students in their 2nd to the 4th years of study. Students are required to have experiences, of stipulated nature and duration, in various specialty clinical settings throughout the clinical years of their programs. Approval for the study was granted by the Fatima College Research Ethics Committee (approval number: INTSTF010BSN20). The research was conducted according to the requirements of the Declaration of Helsinki. Data were collected through online semistructured questionnaires. Prospective participants were sent a soft copy of the informed consent document, and consent was indicated by clicking an "agree" link on the page that took them to the questionnaire. All participants were informed of their freedom to either participate in the study or not, without any penalty and were assured of their confidentiality. The questionnaires were kept in a password-protected file to which the researchers had sole access. Manual thematic analysis was done following the stages of organisation, familiarisation, transcription, coding, developing a thematic framework, indexing, displaying, and reporting. The major themes identified were the unfamiliar experience, challenges of online clinical learning, and possible solutions. Challenges of online clinical learning are multifaceted and require concerted multidisciplinary efforts to resolve. Nursing institutions, ours included, must develop flexible education systems that will be able to thrive in crisis and other unforeseeable circumstances.

Clinical Teaching Effectiveness of Undergraduate Student Nurses in the United Arab Emirates.

INTRODUCTION: Clinical supervision is a crucial aspect of developing nursing students' knowledge, skills, and professional attitudes. The characteristics of clinical instructors have a significant role in the progress and transition of students into their future professional roles. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to examine the behaviors of effective clinical instructors as perceived by nursing students and faculty members in the UAE. METHODS: The study followed a cross-sectional quantitative research design to explore nursing students' and faculty members' perceptions of clinical instructors' effective behaviors that facilitate students' clinical practice. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 147 nursing students and 17 faculty members who completed an online version of the study survey at four nursing programs in the UAE. RESULTS: Students rated personality (M = 4.96, SD = 1.91) and teaching ability (M = 4.94, SD = 1.96) as the highest behaviors for effective clinical instructor. They perceived effective clinical instructor to be organized (M = 5.19, SD = 1.88), shows self-confidence (M = 5.16, SD = 1.84), able to answer questions (M = 5.16, SD = 1.90), emphasizes what is crucial to learn (M = 5.11, SD = 1.81), and takes responsibility for his/her actions (M = 5.11, SD = 1.90). While faculty members perceived effective clinical instructor to encourage a climate of mutual respect (M = 5.56, SD = 1.27), be approachable (M = 5.47, SD = 1.32), demonstrates clinical skill and judgment (M = 5.53, SD = 1.46), takes responsibility for his/her actions (M = 5.53, SD = 1.37), and be a good role model (M = 5.47, SD = 1.32). CONCLUSION: Understanding clinical instructors' effective behaviors and supporting them during students' clinical experiences inspire a productive teaching-learning environment that is crucial to improve students' motivation, expand their learning opportunities and improve their hands-on skills.