Background: Government policy has placed greater emphasis upon health professional students gaining practical experience in real-world environments. Given the fairly new inception of the role of clinical educator in podiatry there is a paucity of research in the area of practice placement in podiatry. Research aims: Within an action research framework, the first phase focused upon exploring the capacity of clinical educators to engage with the role of mentoring, alongside the factors that might impact upon that capacity. The second phase of the project investigated the impact of a teaching tool within the placement area when utilised by clinical educators and students. Methods: The pilot study utilised established questionnaire development methods to create a survey and scale to measure clinical educators’ capacity to engage with the role. The second phase of the project used a range of qualitative data collection methods analysed using framework analysis to analyse the utility of the teaching and learning tool. Findings: Phase I resulted in a 70-item scale measuring the capacity of clinical educators to engage with the role of clinical educator and the identification of four independent variables predictive of a significant proportion of the variability of the dependent variable, capacity to engage with clinical education. Phase II confirmed the utility of the teaching and learning tool to support clinical educators and students during the placement period. An inductive placement model, explanatory of the super-complexity of the environment where the clinical educator endeavours to monitor, modify and manage the placement scope, was developed. Conclusions: In an area where research is currently scant, this study contributed to practice-based education in podiatry and to current understanding of how clinical educators undertake this complex and responsible role. This is an important area for research given the influence clinical educators have to shape and guide the next generation of podiatry professionals.

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La construction de l’identité professionnelle est primordiale dans la formation infirmière. Pourtant, selon la revue de la portée par Bélisle et al. (2020), une des dimensions de la professionnalisation, la construction de l’identité professionnelle, est peu documentée ou discutée de manière explicite dans les programmes de formation en santé. Selon les personnes étudiantes (PÉ), les personnes formatrices cliniques (PF) jouent un rôle précurseur au regard à la construction de leur identité professionnelle durant leurs stages cliniques. Néanmoins, ce rôle est complexe et son impact est majeur, particulièrement en début de formation. Toutefois, la perspective de la PF face à ce rôle demeure peu approfondie en recherche. C’est sous cet angle que cette étude descriptive interprétative (Thorne, 2016) avait pour but d’explorer les perceptions que des PF ont de leur rôle dans la construction identitaire de PÉ d’un programme de baccalauréat en sciences infirmières. Afin d’y parvenir, le cadre conceptuel utilisé pour cette étude était celui proposé par Bélisle et al. (2021) sur la professionnalisation des étudiants pour la formation des professionnels de la santé et la recherche. Huit PF d’un milieu clinique ont été recrutées pour participer à cette étude. Les PF participantes ont rempli un questionnaire sociodémographique, complété une fiche descriptive de leur conception de l’identité professionnelle et participé à une entrevue de groupe. Une analyse de contenu thématique (Thorne, 2016) a été réalisée. Les résultats de cette étude permettent de constater que la façon dont les PF perçoivent leur rôle est similaire et multidimensionnelle, mettant en évidence quatre grands constats : 1) il est essentiel pour la PF de reconnaître sa propre identité professionnelle, au sein de laquelle les postures d'infirmière et de formatrice coexistent, 2) la conception qu'ont les PF de leur rôle dans la construction de l'identité professionnelle de la PÉ dépend de comment ce rôle de formatrice se développe, 3) la PF met en oeuvre son rôle par le biais d’actions d’ordres pédagogique et relationnel et 4) la PF reconnaît l'influence qu'elle peut avoir sur la PÉ, mais estime nébuleux son impact dans le processus de construction identitaire. Cette description permet une meilleure compréhension de la perception du rôle des PF et met en lumière des stratégies afin de mieux les soutenir dans l’exercice du rôle central qu’elles jouent dans la formation de la relève infirmière, notamment dans la construction de l’identité professionnelle. De ce fait, plusieurs pistes de réflexion ont été soumises pour la pratique, la recherche et la formation. / The construction of professional identity is crucial in nursing education. However, according to the scoping review conducted by Bélisle et al. (2021), one of the dimensions of professionalization, the construction of professional identity, is poorly documented or explicitly discussed in health education programs. According to nursing undergraduates, clinical educators play a pioneering role in the construction of their professional identity during their clinical placements. Nevertheless, this role is complex, and its impact is significant, especially in the early stages of education. However, the perspective of the clinical educators regarding this role remains underexplored in research. It is from this perspective that this interpretive descriptive study (Thorne, 2016) aimed to explore the perceptions of clinical educators regarding their role in the identity construction of nursing undergraduates in a bachelor's program in nursing science. To achieve this, the conceptual framework of student professionalization for health professional education and research (Bélisle et al., 2021) was used. Eight clinical educators were recruited to participate in this study. The participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire, filled out a descriptive sheet of their conception of professional identity, and took part in a group interview. A thematic content analysis (Thorne, 2016) was conducted. The results of this study reveal that the way clinical educators perceive their role is similar and multidimensional, highlighting four main findings: 1) clinical educators must be aware of their own professional identity, and through it, the roles of nurse and educator coexist, 2) clinical educators’ conception of their role in the construction of nursing undergraduates’ professional identity depends on how this teaching role develops, 3) clinical educators implement their role through pedagogical and relational actions, and 4) clinical educators acknowledge the influence they can have on nursing undergraduates but considers their impact in the identity construction process as nebulous. This description provides a better understanding of clinical educators’ role perception and sheds light on strategies to better support them in their central role in nursing education, especially in professional identity construction. Consequently, several avenues for practice, research, and education have been suggested.

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