Perceived Challenges of Clinical Supervision among Nurse Educators from Selected Nursing Schools in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Background: Clinical supervision is vital for preparing skilled nurses. This study explored nurse educators' perceptions in selected nursing schools in Sri Lanka to identify challenges in clinical supervision. The findings offer valuable insights for improving the quality of nursing education and clinical supervision. Objective: To explore the perceived challenges of clinical supervision experienced by nurse educators in selected nursing schools in Sri Lanka Methods: Descriptive qualitative design was used with a purposive sample of 24 nurse educators from three selected nursing schools in Sri Lanka. Three focus-group discussions, each lasting 60 90 minutes, were conducted until data saturation which was marked by the absence of new themes and the strong development and support of existing ones in the data. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data. Results: Among 24 participants, most were females (87.5%) aged 36-55 years. Majority (75%) had 5-15 years of experience as nurse educators. Findings revealed five themes and eleven sub themes related to the challenges encountered in clinical supervision. The themes were validated by member checking with participants. The identified themes were student readiness for clinical learning (students’ reluctance, anxiety, and lack of motivation), facing challenges (resource constraints, time limitations, and scheduling difficulties), lack of administrative support (issues of staffing, facilities management, and professional development opportunities), clinical teaching, and feeling inadequate satisfaction (workload management and absence of supportive networks). Conclusions: The study highlights the challenges encountered by nurse educators in clinical supervision and suggests improvements. Recommendations include targeting student readiness with preparation, support, and feedback; optimizing resources through efficient scheduling and group supervision; enhancing professional development and support networks; and securing administrative support to address staffing, facility management, and hospital collaboration issues.