Mediating Effect of Students’ Clinical Supervision on the Relationship Between Essential Skills and Academic Achievements Among Nursing Students in Malaysian Private Nursing Colleges

Abstract

Clinical supervision is theoretically regarded as a critical mediating mechanism linking essential skills to academic achievement in nursing education; however, empirical evidence from Malaysian private nursing colleges challenges this assumption. This study examined the mediating effect of clinical supervision on the relationship between essential skills and academic achievement among nursing students in Malaysian private nursing colleges.

A quantitative design employing Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was adopted, with data collected from 368 nursing students in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur through cluster sampling. Essential skills encompassing communication, critical thinking, lifelong learning, and teamwork, alongside clinical supervision and students' prior CGPA, were measured using adapted survey instruments.

The findings revealed no significant correlations among the study variables, and clinical supervision did not significantly mediate the relationship between essential skills and academic achievement (β = −.012, SD = .027, t = .437, p = .662). These results suggest that supervisory quality, institutional resource limitations, and disparate assessment frameworks constrain clinical supervision in Malaysian private nursing colleges, reflecting a gap between theoretical expectations and actual practice. Despite the absence of a significant mediating effect, clinical supervision retains conceptual value when applied through context-sensitive, culturally aligned approaches.

This study recommends a distributed supervision model integrating Proctor's normative, formative, and restorative functions through peer learning and reflective practices to better prepare nursing students for contemporary healthcare roles.