A new clinical instructor brings nursing experience to the role. They also need to learn how your program teaches, evaluates, communicates, and works with its clinical partners.
Knowing how to provide care and knowing how to guide students through a clinical day are different responsibilities.
A thoughtful welcome gives instructors a clear starting point, a reliable contact, and opportunities to ask questions before uncertainty becomes a problem.
Use this suggested checklist alongside your program’s policies, clinical agreements, and site orientation requirements. Adjust the sequence to your schedule.
Before the first clinical day: Prepare the essentials
Send one organized orientation packet rather than several disconnected messages.
Include:
- Course objectives and the students’ current level of preparation.
- Clinical dates, hours, location, and arrival instructions.
- Student roster and the approved attendance process.
- Faculty responsibilities and supervision expectations.
- Evaluation tools and examples of how to use them.
- Program and clinical-site contact information.
- Procedures for reporting concerns, incidents, and absences.
- Instructions for accessing approved teaching and documentation systems.
Confirm that required faculty onboarding, credentials, and site approvals are complete before assigning responsibilities.
Ask the instructor to review the packet and identify anything that needs clarification.
Try saying: “You do not need to memorize everything before day one. Let’s make sure you know where to find the information and whom to contact.”
Day 1: Establish the role and the boundaries
Begin with a conversation about what students have learned and what they are ready to practice.
Discuss which activities require instructor involvement, how assignments are approved, and how to respond when a student is unsure or unprepared. Use the applicable program and clinical-site requirements.
Introduce the instructor to the appropriate site contact. Review the approved process for accessing records, handling student documentation, and protecting confidential information.
Where feasible, arrange observation or support from an experienced instructor.
Check before leaving: Can the instructor explain whom to contact for a student concern, a patient-safety concern, and a scheduling issue?
Day 2: Walk through a clinical day
Review the day from arrival to dismissal.
Discuss how the instructor will:
- Confirm attendance and student readiness.
- Select learning opportunities appropriate to the students’ level.
- Communicate with site staff.
- Monitor students’ activities.
- Give feedback and address concerns.
- Conduct postconference.
- Complete required documentation.
Work through one fictional situation, such as a student arriving late or being unable to explain a planned activity.
“What would you do, whom would you contact, and what would you document?”
Use the discussion to identify missing instructions.
Day 3: Practice evaluation and feedback
Show the instructor how course objectives connect to the clinical evaluation tool.
Review a fictional student-performance example together. Compare the observations each person would document and the feedback they would provide.
Encourage specific wording:
“The student needed prompting to explain the rationale” gives more useful information than “The student was weak.”
Distinguish routine coaching from concerns that require formal reporting or remediation. Explain who makes those decisions and how the instructor contributes.
Day 4: Strengthen communication
Hold a brief check-in:
“What has been clear?”
“What has been difficult to find?”
“Is there a student concern we need to discuss?”
Confirm the communication channel, expected response process, and escalation route when a concern cannot wait.
Encourage questions early. An instructor should not have to guess whether asking for guidance will be viewed as a lack of competence.
Day 5: Review and plan the next week
Close the first week with a short conversation about what is working and what needs support.
Review documentation, evaluation questions, and any unresolved concerns. Identify one or two priorities for the next clinical experience.
Confirm when the next check-in will occur and who will provide support.
Keep the welcome practical
Provide a one-page quick-reference sheet with essential contacts, reporting steps, and links to approved resources. Review it periodically so instructors are not relying on outdated information.
A checklist records what was covered. Conversation helps reveal what was understood.
For your next faculty orientation: Ask the instructor to walk you through a typical clinical day. Their explanation can show you where another example, clearer instruction, or additional support would help.