Clinical instruction: using the strengths-based approach with nursing students.

Clinical instruction experience can vary significantly based on the needs of the organization and the individual characteristics of instructors and students. Clinical instructors may encounter difficulties in their relationships with students, such as personality conflicts, differences in style and values, and limited skill levels or a lack of interest on the part of students. To reduce obstacles when working with challenging students, a strengths perspective approach is recommended. This framework emphasizes discovering, affirming, and enhancing the capabilities, interests, knowledge, resources, goals, and objectives of individuals. The strengths perspective can provide an innovative framework for working with nursing students, one that emphasizes student empowerment, collaborative learning, and mutual growth. Strength-based strategies for supervision of students in clinical placements are shared, highlighting the practical application of the framework's tenets. Copyright 2009, SLACK Incorporated.