| Competence in nursing is essential to public safety and welfare, and the public expects safe and competent nursing care. One strategy that is consistently identified in the nursing education literature to facilitate development of competent and professional behaviors in nursing students is observational learning, in which the student learns from observing a role model demonstrate desired behaviors. Yet, there is little empirical evidence to suggest that students actually learn these behaviors from observing a role model, or the extent to which role modeling by the clinical instructors impacts student learning in the clinical environment. The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which nursing students perceived themselves as having learned specific clinical behaviors and the extent to which role modeling was perceived to have been a factor in learning those behaviors. Bandura's social cognitive theory was the theoretical framework for this study. The study used a mixed-method design, in which quantitative data was collected from a sample of associate degree nursing students through the use of Likert-style survey, and qualitative data was collected through open-ended questions in the survey, interviews, and a focus group. Findings indicated that nursing students perceived that role modeling is very closely related to learning in the clinical practice setting, that there is a positive relationship between the perceived frequency of clinical instructor role modeling of desired behaviors and competencies and student perceptions of having learned those behaviors and competencies, and that students perceived that lack of role modeling or negative role modeling had an adverse impact on their learning. |
