PERCEPTIONS OF SUPERVISION BY NURSING FACULTY IN THE CLINICAL AREA: IMPLICATIONS FOR CURRICULUM DESIGN.
Contributors: University of Pittsburgh.
Published: 1984
Number of pages: 131
Subjects: Education, General.
Description: In order to determine the perceptions of supervision of nursing faculty in the clinical setting, the descriptive case study research design was selected. Because of the nature of the research design and the focus of the study, the followng criteria for the selection of participants were: (1) completed a baccalaureate degree in nursing and a masters degree in nursing or nursing education from the same graduate program; (2) worked in the clinical area eight hours or more per week; (3) completed no graduate work in education, specifically in the areas of curriculum, instruction, or supervision; and (4) supervised students in the clinical setting in five specialty areas of nursing: maternity nursing, community nursing, pediatric nursing, medical-surgical nursing, and psychiatric nursing. Two subjects were selected from each specialty area in order to compare and contrast the perceptions of supervision of nurses from these specialty areas.

The data analyzed from this study indicated that the nursing faculties' perceptions of their supervisory behaviors were analogous and comparable to the classical view of managing behavior. The data suggested that the nurse educator's perceived supervision as monitoring, controlling and evaluating student behavior. The nurse educators also perceived supervision as a method of establishing, maintaining, and controlling their personal expectations of students' behavior and performance. They perceived that they functioned more as evaluators rather than facilitators of learning in the clinical setting.

Also, the data indicated that the nurse educators perceived the purposes of supervision as the improvement of patient care and student learning. There appeared to be no difference in the faculties' perceptions among nursing specialties.

The implications for curriculum design derived from the data were: that nurse educators should have some preparation in supervisory theory and skills; modes of instruction; methods of systematically diagnosing learner needs; and methods of student evaluation.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, Section: A, page: 1580.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, 1984.

School code: 0178.