Clinical Instructor Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Are you searching for a clinical Instructor job description? Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a clinical Instructor. Feel free to use our clinical Instructor job description template to produce your own clinical Instructor job description. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a clinical Instructor.
Who is a Clinical Instructor?
A Clinical Instructor is a medical professional who takes medical and health-related students on clinical training. The skills you teach your students during their clinical rotations are crucial for their physical education therapy and rehab. As a clinical instructor, you serve as a mentor to your students. You are to supervise them while they work with patients or in a clinical setting.
A clinical instructor assesses a student’s ability to effectively apply knowledge from the classroom, master necessary skills, communicate well, and plan patient care in this environment. They evaluate each student’s potential and areas for growth to determine how to modify the teaching style as necessary. They deliver lectures and training sessions in classrooms and medical facilities, checking the students’ comprehension by having them carry out real-world clinical tasks and medical interventions under their supervision. While developing comprehensive ways to improve interactive learning, the clinical instructor keeps track of each student’s development. To address the questions and concerns of the trainees, a clinical instructor must possess in-depth knowledge of the medical field and great communication skills.
There are various duties that you are to perform as a clinical instructor. Your main priority is to ensure students have the practical abilities to do all the necessary jobs.
Each instructor has a designated group of students to assess clinical activities connected to the course. Depending on the rules of the workplace, you could have six or more students.
Clinical Instructor Job Description
What is a clinical Instructor job description? A clinical Instructor job description is simply a list of duties and responsibilities of a clinical Instructor in an organization. Below are the clinical Instructor job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a clinical Instructor job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of the Clinical Instructor include the following:
- Assist all students in adjusting to the training group, ensuring top performance in the designated ward to fulfill all customer goals, and instructing all students on how to reduce contamination and infection.
- Assist other medical professionals and academic staff in analyzing all student needs, ensuring the facility has the right resources and helping with various laboratory activities.
- Coordinate with students, handle all interactions, and offer the best training possible via hands-on experience.
- Create and maintain respectful professional relationships with colleagues and students while partaking in all procedures.
- Manage all clinical activities, and your students work, administer and deliver all formal course material.
- Oversee all patient care activities, guarantee the highest standard of care in a clinical environment, partake in different education programs, and guarantee that you follow all lesson plans.
- Teach students to recognize warning signals of patient health worsening and clinical equipment breakdown to guarantee that students meet all course goals.
- Prepare all student assignments, guarantee adherence to all academic course requirements, and assess each trainee’s performance throughout classroom clinical instruction.
- Organize various group conferences to help all students and trainees share their clinical experiences, instructors create the best lesson plans and give training on clinical technical procedures.
- Work with academic organizers to organize all follow-up meetings for clinical training.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in nursing, pharmacy, veterinary science, or related discipline.
- Years of clinical experience in the area of expertise
- Possess a license in your country of origin or residence
- Experience using high-quality simulation technology
Essential Skills
Here are the skills that a clinical instructor should have to excel in the field:
- Approachable
- Communication
- Competence
- Fun and Interactive
- Interpersonal
- Professionalism
- Leadership
- Role Modelling
- Passion and Commitment
Approachable
Make every effort to be personable with kids so they feel at ease approaching you with any queries they might have. This is why making the clinical setting a secure place for students to ask questions is crucial. The faculty’s deliberate demonstration and communication of this will positively impact student learning.
Communication
Clinical instructors use complex medical and scientific vocabulary and definitions when teaching a wide range of subjects. They must be able to explain this material to their students in simple terms. Additionally, they must be able to react to students’ general inquiries and follow-up queries.
The ability to establish specific, practical performance goals for a team is a must for clinical instructors. To ensure that the department functions properly, they must give precise explanations of the daily activities and objectives.
Competence
The fear of failing to perform tasks in a clinical context is one of the main reasons for anxiety for students. They are more afraid of failure than of feeling embarrassed and inadequate. It’s conceivable that instructors are unaware that their pupils look up to them and treat them as though they are the experts who can manage any situation.
When engaging in skill-related tasks, you should supervise students until they can do so with assurance, prudence, and ease. Students must first feel confident in their ability to be trusted before they can believe their clinical instructors are knowledgeable enough. Students draw to lecturers who exude a sense of spontaneity while appearing methodical and confident.
Fun and Interactive
Teaching strategies that are entertaining for people never get old. It is difficult to forecast how busy a shift will be in clinical. Clinical instructors indeed are not to be performers or able to get standing ovations, but using humor while teaching may greatly aid students in remembering what they have learned. Humor is associated with a supportive learning environment, and nothing can motivate students to attend a class every day like the prospect of another enjoyable lesson. When it comes to it, humor helps make learning more enjoyable for students and teachers. Today’s educational system finds it difficult to keep students’ attention. This informal method of teaching nursing students relieves their stress. After all, if you want to be a clinical instructor, it may be a rewarding career.
Interpersonal
Every day, clinical instructors deal with many different groups, including students, academic instructors, doctors and clinic personnel, and even families. They must be able to work well with people of various personalities, be considerate of the needs of others, and be able to tell when things are going well or might get complicated.
Professionalism
The nature of healthcare means that their work may include difficulties and unforeseen events. That is why clinical instructors must operate successfully in high-pressure and calm situations, in classes, and on the clinic floor. They must always act appropriately and professionally, no matter the circumstance.
Leadership
Leadership skill is crucial for clinical instructors, whether you deal with students or staff. You must set a good example for your students in the classroom and during clinical. You may need to lead teams and make wise administrative decisions in your capacity.
Role Modelling
As a clinical instructor, when you achieve a feat, you set the standard for what your students should aspire to. Make it a goal to stay updated on the literature and best practices in your setting if you are a full-time faculty member unable to keep up with clinical practice by working in the clinical context. It will enable you easily share your knowledge and excellence with students.
Passion and Commitment
An instructor’s attitude impact students. Teaching is a difficult profession since it entails preparing others for an important position in society. However, students need to understand how committed and motivated the instructor is to provide clinical training. The students may not fully understand their classes if an instructor treats the clinical rotation only as a duty. Devoted and motivated instructors are frequently excited to introduce new ideas to their students. Along the process, they also impart life lessons.
Becoming an example of commitment and drive shows your students that being a clinical instructor is fulfilling despite the challenges, which motivates them to put in even more effort. This has a significant impact on how long they envision themselves remaining in the field.
How to Become a Clinical Instructor
Below are the steps to take to become a Clinical Instructor:
Step One: Acquire a Degree
A bachelor’s degree in nursing (BSN) is the minimum requirement for working as a clinical instructor.
A BSN is a typical four-year degree that equips you with a fundamental understanding of subjects like pathophysiology, anatomy, pharmacology, and health assessments. BSN programs include clinical rotations through the many care divisions in hospitals and clinics to give students a well-rounded nursing education. This exposes students to a wide spectrum of patients.
You can pursue a related course in your bachelor’s degree in nursing is not your chosen specialization to start your clinical instructor’s journey. Focus on developing industry-specific skills during your studies to be prepared for applying for entry-level jobs and starting your career. Before joining the profession, you may need a Clinical Instructor internship to achieve your bachelor’s degree and gain essential on-the-job skills.
Step Two: Pass the Registered Nursing Exam in your Country of Study
You will be qualified to sit for the exam needed to become a Registered Nurse once you have received your Bachelor of Science in Nursing. In the United States, Australia, and Canada, The National Council of State Boards of Nursing administers this test, known as the NCLEX-RN, or National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCSBN). Make sure you are aware of the regulations as they pertain to you and your location because each country has its licensing requirements and registration procedure.
Step Three: Choose a Specialty
You might need to select a specialty within your area as a clinical instructor. Decide whatever area of the clinical instructor profession you are most comfortable in, and then keep taking proactive actions to advance in that area.
Step Four: Gain Experience
Students are exposed to several different care settings during clinical rotations. Before working as a clinical nursing educator, it’s crucial to have experience in a variety of specialties, including pediatrics, psychiatry, and medical surgery.
Step Five: Obtain an Entry-level Clinical Instructor Job
You will normally start your job as a Clinical Instructor once you have earned a Bachelor’s degree in another profession or one that is closely related. In general, after earning your four-year Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, you can apply to become a clinical instructor. You might want to look into becoming a certified medical assistant depending on the kind of clinical instructor position you want.
Step Six: Acquire a Master’s Degree
Some clinical instructors have master’s degrees in nursing. Most employers in the medical sector may prefer clinical instructors with postgraduate degrees, although this is not a necessity everywhere.
Step Seven: Improve Your Career as a Clinical Instructor
There are various stages in the Clinical Instructor job path after entry level. To advance to the next seniority level job as an entry-level clinical instructor, may take two years. To advance in your profession, you need to have amassed at least two years of experience at each level.
Where to Work as a Clinical Instructor
Usually, clinical instructors work in hospitals, clinics, or other healthcare organizations. Additionally, they could work at academic institutions like medical schools or universities. They normally work full-time, with the possibility of the weekend and night-time shifts. Clinical instructors could be available for work around the clock if they are on call. They work with patients that might range from the healthy to the seriously sick. Additionally, they could deal with patients of different ages, from young children to the elderly.
Clinical Instructor Salary Scale
In the United States, the average salary for a clinical instructor is $76,754 per year or $39.36 per hour. More experienced ones earn up to $108,891 yearly, while entry-level roles start at $57,937 annually.
In the United Kingdom, the average gross salary for a clinical instructor is £43,198, or $21 an hour. Additionally, they receive a bonus of around £1,136. The typical salary for an entry-level clinical instructor is £30,674. The average pay for a senior-level clinical instructor is around £53,483.
In Canada, a clinical instructor makes an average yearly pay of CA$78,907, or CA$40.46 an hour. Most experienced professionals may earn up to CA$103,409 per year, while entry-level occupations start at CA$69,942 annually.
In Australia, a Clinical Instructor can expect to make AU$93,454 a year on average.
In Berlin, Germany, the average salary for a clinical instructor is €50,186 per year and €24 per hour.
Clinical instructors in Ireland make an average of €53,021 per year and €25 per hour.
In Nigeria, clinical instructors make an average net compensation of ₦69,000.
Factors that determine the salary range of a clinical instructor may be the health facility or school they work in, location, years of expertise, etc.
