BRIEFS

The One Minute Clinical Instructor:An Application of the Principles of the One Minute Manager

IntroductionThe simplicity and common sense of the

One Minute Manager (Blanchard &Johnson, 1982) are impressive. The mainideas are familiar to nursing education,which continuously employs objectives(goals), positive feedback (praise), andnegative feedback (reprimands). Becauseof the similarities between the organiza-tional and the clinical experience goals,the principles might be applied in theclinical instruction of nursing students.After studying the book, I planned howthose principles and practices might beincorporated in the exercise of my role asclinical instructor.

Clinical instructors should be efFectivemanagers. "Effective managers managethemselves and the people they work withso that both the organization (health-caredelivery system) and the people (individ-ual students) profit fVom their (instruc-tor's) presence" (Blanchard & Johnson,1982, p.l5). With effective management,the patients receive better care and thestudents feel better about being there,learning, and giving that care. Studentsmust win: the success of our educational

Patricia S. Greer. RN. HSD. is Assistant Profes-sor, School of Nursing, Indiana University, Bloom-ington

Address reprint requests to Patricia S. Greer,RN. HSD, School of Nursing. Indiana University,1407 East Tenth Street. Bloomington, IN 47405.

January 1990, Vol. 29, No. 1

programs depends on it. As clinical in-structors, our interests lie in both resultsand people: effective patient care given byproficient and satisfied student nurses.

The One Minute ManagerThe One Minute Manager portends to

teach "the quickest way to increase pro-ductivity, profits, job satisfaction, and per-sonal prosperity" (Blanchard & Johnson,1982, jacket). The book is aimed at man-agers, and its methods have been ac-claimed by business leaders. The philoso-phy of the One Minute Manager is basedon the idea that people will be more pro-ductive if they know what is expected ofthem and if they receive feedback on theirefforts. The key elements of the One Min-ute Manager are one minute goal setting,one minute praising, and one minute rep-rimands.One Minute Goal Setting. One minutegoal setting is the first stage of a newresponsibility or task. During this step,the manager makes clear the responsi-bilities for which the employee will be heldaccountable. When employees are orientedto and made constantly aware of theirgoals, they do not have to guess what theyare to do, nor do they forget their dailytasks. Because "80% of your reallyimportant results come from 20̂ ^ of yourgoals" (Blanchard & Johnson, 1982, p.28),the employees set daily goals for key areasof responsibility, and briefly record theirgoals and performeince standards. This

infonnation is shared with the manager,who, if he or she agrees with theemployees, keep a copy of these goals.During the day, both the manager andemployees check their copies to see if theemployees' performance matches thestated goals.One Minute Praising. Based on thetheory that "people who feel good aboutthemselves produce good resul ts"(Blanchard & Johnson, 1982, p.l9), theOne Minute Manager invests time andeffort to "catch them (the employees) doingsomething right." The manager makesclear exactly what the individualemployees are doing right and encouragesthem to continue that standard ofperformance and keep detailed records ofprogress.One Minute Reprimand. When anemployee does not perform as expected,the manager tells him the specificbehavior that was unacceptable. Afterletting the message sink in, the managerreminds the employee of how much he isvalued and that the manager thinks wellof him, but not his performance. Finally,once the reprimand is over, it is over.

ApplicationSchools of nursing are fortunate to have

admission criteria for obtaining naturalwinners, students who rapidly develop theknowledge and skills essential to the nurs-ing profession. Other students are poten-tial winners. Although some may be dis-

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BRIEFS

guised as losers, through guidance, manysuch students have been unmasked toreveal some of the profession's finestnurses. The nursing educator who usesthe principles of the One Minute Manageron the clinical unit is called the one minuteclinical instructor. The one minute clinicalinstructor promotes the development ofwinners. The key elements used are thesame: goal setting, praising, and repri-mands.Goal Setting. It takes more than aminute to set the ground work for theeffective practice of the one minute clinicalinstructor. Requiring hours, the first stepin the goal setting process is participatingin an orientation. This orientationeducates the students to the objectivesestablished by the faculty for the students'education. As each objective is explained,the evaluation tool is distributed, andstandards of behavior are given. Thestudents are also encouraged toenumerate outcome behaviors desiredfrom taking the course. If agreed to by theinstructor, these objectives are writtenand distributed and are considered asimportant, but not more so, than thecourse objectives.

Since the one minute clinical instructordoes not assume that all students knowwhat will be expected of them, she initiallyprovides concrete direction concerningmatters for which the students will be heldaccountable. She gives them written andverbal guidelines for preparation, sugges-tions for organizing time and activities,and an introduction to how they will bemanaged through one minute goal setting,praising, and reprimands.Each week thereafter, the students writespecific goals for their practice. For manystudents, it is their first experience inactually using goals to direct their efforts.Using behavioral terms, the studentswrite cognitive, practice, and patients'goals. These briefly stated goals are writ-ten daily and are confirmed or redirectedby the instructor during the pre-confer-ence or soon after. The goals are referredto periodically and are checked when ac-complished. Goals may be revised accord-ing to the situation, but not without confir-mation by the instructor. This restrictionensures that students will aim towardaccomplishing their goals and will notsimply write goals to reflect their outcomeperformance.

Although the goal of the one minuteclinical instructor is not to spend a mini-mal amount of time supervising the stu-dents, it may be an outcome realized nearthe end of each semester. That is, whenthe students leam what is expected of

them and can effectively evaluate theirown behavior, they require progressivelyless supervision, and the instructor hastime to concentrate on enhancing the stu-dents' experiences. To arrive at the pointwhere less supervision is required, stu-dents must reach a certain degree of profi-ciency and self-confidence. Moreover,those qualities are fostered by the initialinvestment of guidance and rein-forcement.Praising. The second secret of the oneminute clinical instructor is one minutepraising—catch the student doingsomething right. Students do many thingsright: they may ask good questions,support their patients, perform proceduresor take histories well, identify pertinentnursing diagnoses, or astutely selectpriorities. The one minute instructor seesthose behaviors and tells the studentsindividually what was done well and howthe instructor feels about the student'ssuccess. The instructor siffirms the benefitof those behaviors to the patient andreminds the student to "keep up the goodwork,"

A major focus for the one minute clinicalinstructor is praise: make an equal effortto give positive reinforcement as is usuallygiven to negative reinforcement. Praisinghelps students learn what is judged to beeffective nursing behavior and helps themgain confidence in their own abilities.Honest, simply-stated praise, generouslygiven early in the semester, bolsters thestudents' self-confidence so that ifnegative criticism is eventually necessary,students are better able to handle it.Additionally, they will require pro-gressively less external feedback whenthey have accomplished somethingpraiseworthy. As the semester progresses,the students are periodically asked to tellthe instructor something they have donewell, for example, something only a skilledprofessional could do or simply somethingof which they were proud. This self-evaluative behavior helps the studentsfeel good about themselves whiledeveloping professionally.Reprimanding. What happens when astudent fails to meet the standardsrequired? On this occasion, two thingsmust happen: the behavior must becorrected and the student supported, inthat order. When the student does notperform at the desired level, the instructortakes him aside for a one minutereprimand, specifying exactly what wasdone wrong (for example, inadequatepreparation) and how the instructor feelsabout the behavior. Remaining silent for ashort period, the instructor then touches

the student, tells him how competent hegenerally is and how they is respected;that the behavior displayed is notconsistent with the student's usualattempts to give the best care possible tohis patients. The instructor concludeswith the acknowledgment that the studentis a valuable person and has a great deal tooffer. The reprimand is then over.Although the incident is recorded on thatweek's evaluat ion sheet , furtherdiscussion about this performance isunnecessarily unless it is repeated.

Unlike most methods of reprimanding,the one minute clinical instructor does notbegin by making positive statementsabout the student. Rather, she begins withthe reprimand itself because studentsleam to appreciate that when they arepraised, it is an unconditional praise andwill not be followed by a "however," Stu-dents leam that each reprimand coversone behavior rather than an accumulationof behaviors with the instructor's intensi-fied reaction. Moreover, when reprimandsare followed by statements of value, therecipients feel they have been treatedfairly and tend to remember the messagerather than the process; consequently,they are more willing to accept the criti-cism and change their behavior.

ConclusionTwo years ago, I began using the meth-

ods of the One Minute Manager in mypractice as clinical instructor. Althoughmy application is constantly being refined,I am pleased with the results. Studentsare more goal-oriented; hence, they aremore successful in attaining significantgoals. They are more aware of theirstrengths, and they acknowledge that theyhave received feedback. They appreciatethe minimal stress level and feel they growprofessionally. With this method, re-sponses can be more consistent with be-havior. Moreover, I feel comfortable withmy performance, continuing to be positivewhile vigorously promoting the attain-ment of higher standards for the students'performances.

Instructors using similar modalitiesneed to make only slight modifications tobecome a one minute clinical instructor.This application of the highly acclaimedbusiness management technique will fos-ter an atmosphere in which both studentsand instructors become winners.

Reference

Blanchard, K, & Johnson. S, (1982), The oneminute manager. New York: Marrow andCompany, Inc,

38 Journal of Nursing Education