What nursing instructor doesn't want to hear a graduate nurse say, "She was the best clinical instructor I had," or "That instructor is who made me the nurse I am today?" Fast Facts for the Clinical Nursing Instructor: Clinical Teaching in a Nutshell is a must-have for anyone who is or who will be a clinical instructor. This little book is packed full of information to help make you the best clinical instructor you can be.

The book is divided into seven sections with 18 chapters. Topics include:

• Understanding the role of a clinical instructor versus the classroom teacher

• Dealing with clinical assignments, clinical settings, staff, and alternative activities

• How to identify those students who may be at risk for failure and those who are most likely to succeed

• Student evaluations, both by the students themselves and by you as the instructor

• Communication with students in pre- and post-clinical conferences

• Dealing with unmet competencies such as attendance, responsibility and unsafe practices, and the instructor's role in dealing with them and helping to prevent them

Each chapter includes "fast facts in a nutshell," which summarize the main points for that chapter. Some chapters provide exercises and/or questionnaires for the reader to complete, and others contain case scenarios to further illustrate a concept and to provide a clearer understanding of the topic being discussed.

The appendices contain guidelines for clinical orientation day, format and guidelines for clinical journals, and sample clinical assignment sheets.

As a nursing instructor, I found this book extremely informative, interesting and easy to read. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is currently or who plans to be a clinical nursing instructor. I am going to recommend it as required reading for our instructors - especially those first-time instructors. It will answer many questions and provide information many instructors may never think to ask about until after the fact and they say, "I wish I had known that before."

This book is an excellent tool for the clinical nursing instructor and will certainly provide much valuable information to help the students succeed in their clinical rotations.