Mentoring has been established in a variety of fields for many years. Within nursing, the term ‘mentor’ denotes “A nurse, midwife or specialist community public health nurse who facilitates learning and supervises and assesses students in a practice setting”, (Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) 2005). The essay will explore the role of the mentor in the field of nursing, with personal reflection on the authors experience as a mentor in my current role as a community mental health nurse (CMHN). The mentor-mentee learning relationship will be explored and the application of teaching and learning strategies will be examined.
The essay will also discuss the responsibility of the mentor in relation to self, others and the professional
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The setting where learning is valued would be one where the mentor has a manageable workload and is supported by their manager in planning time to teach and assess others as part of their role (Eaton 1999). Unfortunately, personal experience does not mirror theoretical guidelines as in practice; nurses are frequently expected to manage a caseload at full capacity in addition to carrying out mentorship responsibilities. Research would suggest that this issue is not unique to the practice area (Allen and Simpson 2000). Arguably this matter is one that should be negotiated between mentors and managers in order that the mentor and student feel valued and encouraged to engage in the process.
The physical environment where teaching and learning takes place in the placement area can be varied and consequently somewhat difficult to manipulate in order to achieve the best results. It is frequently in a client’s home or in the car in between domiciliary visits, but can also be at the hospital where outpatient reviews take place or even out in the community, in a local cafeteria or leisure centre. Within this area, learning opportunities are not always as easily organised due to the constant change in the physical environment.
It is also regarded as important that the placement areas have adequate resources to enhance knowledge attainment. Ely and Lear (2003) advocate that
A practitioner’s role in meeting children’s learning needs are to understand and work with each and every child’s learning needs. They can do this by providing different opportunities to individual children because each child is unique and learns differently. The practitioners’ role would therefore be to plan and resource an environment that is challenging and helps children learn in many different areas of their learning.
46). The registered nurse mentor will acts as teachers by sharing knowledge and expertise, counselors by providing psychological support. May act as interveners by providing access to resources and protection, and sponsors by promoting the prestige as he or she facilitates self- reliance. This will provide the mentor with self-assurance, job approval, promotions, managerial skills, and problem-solving skills (Gordon, 2000)
The qualities of the mentor are an important element of the learning environment. This includes professional and personal qualities such as professionalism, a friendly nature, understanding and patience (Beskine 2009). Added to this the learner must be made to feel welcome through staff attitudes, this will help the learner to become integrated into the clinical environment (Hutchinson, 2003). Throughout the learning experience I felt that I had a strong professional relationship and that being ‘A’ ’s mentor being approachable and friendly enabled us to maintain a trusting relationship conducive to learning. This relationship, according to ‘A‘, reduced stress and anxiety. Locken and Norberg (2005) state that anxiety in students becomes reduced when mentors are able to build a good working relationship with their student and are able to work with them for almost all of their placement. One potential barrier in creating an effective
Throughout this clinical semester, I have worked with several different registered nurses (RNs) and have been able to develop mentoring relationships with many of the staff on the unit. During our time together, I interviewed several of my nurse mentors and elicited information regarding their nursing experiences and the culture of the environment in which they work. The following conversations provide a summarization of my nurse mentors’ responses to the selected interview questions.
Issues such as staff shortage, increased workload, staff feeling threatened by the student nurses, and poor teaching skills can contribute to students not feeling supported (Burns and Paterson, 2005). Nursing students had identified that anxiety as their main concern in the research done by Masoumi and Sharif (2005). The unfamiliarity of tending for patients and worrying of making mistakes during the clinical attachment are the factors that students feel anxious. Mentor can diminish anxiety by utilizing simulation, where genuine case studies and scenarios are being simulated and roles and responsibilities of student nurse are being discussed (Burns and Paterson, 2005).Gradual encouragement in helping student nurse to gain control over their own learning may aid to construct their confidence which will reduce their
"This example shaped me as a leader," she says, and her work with a professional career coach convinced her of the strength of her newfound career.
One thing I believe is a necessity in growing up is having a mentor. Having a mentor is, not only, beneficial for the mentee but also the mentor. Being a mentor is a learning experience for everyone participating, it helps people grow as a person and friendships are created when a bond if formed. Some people might think it's a waste of time for a child or that it'll never work out for a troubled delinquent but based on the research I've done, I have proven them wrong. Through-out this paper I will provide the pros and cons of mentoring and how they affect both mentor and mentee. To back up my proposal that mentoring is supporting, I will supply examples to answer the question: Is mentoring really important?
The Nursing and Midwifery council (NMC) standards of proficiency for pre-registration nursing education (2010) sets out exactly what student nurses must achieve to enable registration onto the first part of the register. Another NMC publication; Standards to support learning and assessment in practice (2006) lays out what a post registration nurse requires to fulfil in order to formally assess student nurses. These two sets of standards make it clear what is expected of both students and mentors when learning in the clinical environment. This makes the process of mentoring sound simple, however, the reality of working on a busy ward coupled with staffing shortages and low morale makes this a complex and challenging task (Ref). As a
The article by Bally Jill (2007) identifies that nursing leadership can use mentoring culture to achieve professional and career development in nursing, and increase the quality of care given, especially for acute care nurses. This is because the article finds that nurses often have low morale, heavy workloads, high patient acuity, apathy towards professional collegial support, and reduced resources. The article identifies that mentoring in
As a Registered Nurse I have had the opportunity to be a preceptor to a number of nursing students. I take this role very seriously as I am aware of the impact that my mentoring has on the students’ learning experience, competence and satisfaction
Mentors now have to be aware of the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, NHS leadership Qualities Framework, which gives mentors clear instructions about their responsibilities (Kinnell and Hughes 2010). However, meeting these requirements alone will not make a nurse a successful mentor. Mentors have to plan and provide appropriate opportunities for teaching and learning activities, with clinical experience to achieve learning outcomes and develop professional competencies (Choun and Suen 2001). This will enable them to assess students performance,
Mentoring for the mentor is about challenging himself to perform to greater capabilities while nurturing a mentee and stretching them to realise their full potential. Mentors counsel, tutor and guide their mentees in developing themselves.
Mentorship is very important in the workplace especially in the area of training and development. The mentor-protégé relationship is a much needed relationship that begins in the early career stage and this relationship involves the current or new employees and the supervisor or other colleagues that provide work-related guidance. The relationship itself is comprehensive and involves “educational, occupational, physical, social, and spiritual development” (Greenhaus,, Callanan, & Godshalk, 2010, p 211). One of the initial task of the early career the establishment of the career field which involves the gaining of the workplace competence, learn what is needed to excel in the organization, and to gain acceptance in the workplace to be recognized as the valued employee. There are many ways of achieving the above mentioned advantages in the workplace which one main method is through the use of the mentorship program.
This essay will start by defining mentoring, and giving a brief understanding of mentoring. This essay will then go on to identify and evaluate a number of key factors that may influence the effectiveness of a mentoring relationship. This essay will focus on the example of mentoring within schools and a learning mentor to be more specific.
With the development of the more organic and less formal organisational structures the role of mentors has shifted with these changes. Unlike previously where mentors where seen as formal trainers who taught newcomers the processes and got them acquainted with the cultures and the systems within the organisation. Which required good interpersonal skills and a good knowledge of the activity or tasks the mentee would have to undertake, and be able to effectively relay or demonstrate the tasks or activities to the mentee. As opposed to more recently where a mentor would have to be more of an emotional counselor and demonstrate more skills than were traditionally required from