Strategies for maintaining and improving clinical credibility of nursing lecturers: A meta-synthesis study

Abstract Background: After the academization of nursing, obtaining, maintaining, and promoting of clinical credibility of nursing lecturers have always been a matter of challenge. Various studies have explored strategies for maintaining and promoting clinical credibility and a review study can integrate these results. This review study was conducted to evaluate strategies for maintaining and promoting clinical credibility of nursing lecturers.Methods: This study was designed based on Noblit and Hare's qualitative meta-synthesis. Studies on clinical credibility of nursing lecturers were collected in the databases of Science Direct, PubMed, Scopus, and Eric from 2000 to 2021. Finally, after reviewing the full texts and applying the evaluation criteria, 12 articles were included in this review. Each selected article was reviewed and key concepts extracted from each study were compared with other studies for final interpretation of clinical credibility of nursing lecturers and approaches for its improvement.Results: We found that, clinical credibility of nursing lecturers has been interpreted as sufficient and appropriate experience and skills of lecturers in most of articles. Strategies for maintaining and promoting clinical credibility were organized into one main category and five subcategories, including clinical care, clinical links, transfer of skills, clinically orientated research, and motivational factors.Conclusion: According to the results of the study, it is necessary to pay attention to the dimensions of being involved in care, establishing clinical communication, transferring skills, conducting clinical research and paying attention to motivational factors to develop and maintain the clinical credibility of nursing teachers.