The interactions between the clinical teacher, colleagues and students contribute to the development of the students’ professional value systems. Thus, a nurse teacher who is committed to oplimizing students’ clinical experience provides a basis for the development of positive professional values.

The balance of role categories is a dynamic process and is primarily achieved through the reflexivity of the nurse teacher. Myerhoff and Ruby defined reflexivity as the capacity of any system... to turn back upon itself, to make itself its own object by referring to itself’. For the nurse teacher, this entails the honest examination of the values and interests that may impinge upon his or her work Nurse teacher reflexivity includes being self-aware enough to treat students as individual people rather than as subjects of the teaching process and being open, honest and natural with the students and encouraging them to