title: Best practice or last resort? Employing graduate teaching assistants as clinical instructors.
abstract: Many institutions need to employ GTAs, and students need the teaching experience that working as a GTA offers. Some recommendations to support a positive outcome are as follows: (1) GTAs should not make up a significantly large percentage of the total clinical faculty employed. Yet within reasonable limits, employ GTAs, wherever possible; (2) evaluate GTAs’ performance on an ongoing as well as summative basis to be sure that they are meeting expectations set for providing instruction; and (3) hire new faculty members who worked previously as a GTA or in similar roles to ensure faculty succession with educators who are clinical experts.
authors.affiliation: Author Affiliations: Assistant Dean (Dr Pressler), College of Nursing, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Former Dean, Professor (Dr Kenner), School of Nursing, Bouvé College of Health Sciences, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Jana L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Pressler
authors.forename: Carole A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Kenner
mesh_terms: D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004511:Education, Nursing, Graduate; D005181:Faculty, Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D010560:Personnel Selection