An Analysis and Evaluation of Basic Needs Theory and Transition Theory

Academic clinical nurse educators are valued for their current clinical expertise; however, they often have little training in pedagogy. Current research has focused on strategies to improve orientation, support, confidence, and retention. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and evaluate transition theory and basic needs theory as they relate to the phenomenon of becoming a clinical instructor. After analysis and review, basic needs theory was determined to be a useful, parsimonious theory to examine the phenomenon of becoming a clinical instructor and may allow for developing interventions to increase the intrinsic motivation of academic clinical nurse educators.