Theory to Practice Literature Review

As Finkelman (2006) stated, “Mentoring, and important career development to that can be used by nurses any type of set or specialty, can be used to develop the critical leadership skills needed by nurses. All successful leaders have had mentors are our mentors” (Finkelman,2006, p. 390).

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.

As we are coming towards the end of our nursing program, I have been thinking what type of mentor I would like to follow. I picked some criteria based on my past experiences from my clinical rotations and decided that I will chose my mentor by several criteria. For one, the person needs to be willing to teach. Due to my past experience, I know many nurses does not know how to teach a student; they don’t even try to find out what the student needs improvement on or the things that were new to the students. Many of them don’t even want a student to follow them. This type of nurses is not the one that I will pick as my mentor. Secondly, the person has to understand that we are human beings and human beings makes mistake. If the nurse is constantly

For this assignment I will address Morton- Cooper & Palmer (2005) enabling traits and discussed the core skill of a mentor. I will analyse and reflect on how I’ve utilised these skill with a third year student nurse in my practice area (cardiology) I will also reflect and evaluate my mentoring experience with my learner to see if there is any area of improvement or changes to be amended.

For many clinical experiences, the instructor assigns a nurse mentor to work with the student for that clinical experience. Some nurse mentors may have negative feelings about having to mentor students, may not take the time to explain things to students, or teach them how to do nursing care. The nurse mentor has the potential to positively or negatively affect the student’s learning experience based on their willingness to work with and teach nursing students.

MacLellan, Levett-Jones, & Higgins (2016) found that lack of support as one the challenges new NP’s reported which is when the senior NP’s knowingly withhold information that would have been helpful and or the refusal to guide the new NP when guidance is needed. Another was a power struggle between nurses, new NP’s and senior NP’s which creates a stressful environment for the new NP who is trying to survive. New NP’s are already coming into employment feeling insecure, anxious, and overwhelmed, so any unnecessary challenges by the senior NP’s or other healthcare providers only contribute to the factors that hinder a successful transition role. As an employee retention program, many companies, schools, and healthcare organizations have established a mentoring program, and the purpose of a mentor is to provide guidance and support to a mentee such as a new NP practitioner in order to reduce the uneasy feeling of entering a new chapter of personal, professional or academic life changes (Mijares, Baxley, & Bond,

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

In order to increase new RN job satisfaction and retention, a mentorship program approach is vital for the success of new registered nurses and the success of the healthcare organization. The qualitative studies presented in this chapter involve experienced nurse mentors providing guidance, assistance, and ongoing support to newly hired or newly graduated RNs/mentees throughout the 12-month mentorship programs (Fox, 2010, p. 9). According to the 2010 Institute of Medicine report, the nursing workforce can be substantially strengthened and the quality of care and patient outcomes can be dramatically improved through nurse mentorship (p. 3). The three studies introduced in this chapter demonstrate the outcomes for nurses who have participated

A review of the relevant research specific to the question of the effectiveness of mentorship programs was conducted (see evidence summary table, Appendix A). The bulk of the published studies evaluating the implementation and effectiveness of mentoring programs for newly registered nurses demonstrated the beneficial effects mentorship has on job satisfaction and retention rates (Edwards, Hawker, Carrier & Rees, 2015; Zhang et al., 2015).

The aim of the literature review was to determine if the initiation of leadership mentoring programs would improve the competence and integration of new nurse leaders to increase patient health outcomes in clinical practice settings. “Trends such as low morale, a general apathy regarding professional collegiate support, heavier workloads, reduced resources, and higher patient acuity can contribute to job dissatisfaction, poor work performance, and may be putting positive patient health outcomes at risk” (Bally, 2007).

Mariani, B. (n.d.). The Effect of Mentoring on Career Satisfaction of Registered Nurses and Intent to Stay in the Nursing Profession. Nursing Research and Practice, 1-9.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary (2015) defines mentor as “someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person”. Mentorship is sought as a long term one on one relationship between an experienced nurse and a newly registered nurse (Chen & Lou, 2013; Hodgson & Scanlan, 2013; Huybrecht, Loeckx, Quaeyhaegens, De Tobel, & Mistiaen, 2011). Mentorship is needed to encourage the success of the novice nurse and to retain new nurses (Hodgson & Scanlan, 2013; Race & Skees, 2010). Mentorship can also foster the growth of the novice nurse into a leadership role over time (Hodgson & Scanlan, 2013; Metcalfe, 2010; Race & Skees, 2010;). The relationship between the mentor and mentee benefit each other, as both

Upon literature review, it was noted that effective mentoring can contribute toward a positive learning environment and valuable learning experiences (Botma, Hurter & Kotze, 2012). A long standing concern among nursing faculty has been the large number of students that a clinical faculty member is responsible for during a clinical experience and faculty time for adequate supervision and attention (Bagnardi, 2011). Peer mentoring is a strategy that has been used in the clinical setting. A major role of the mentor is to assist and encourage students to link theory to practice in a practical setting

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.

Identify and evaluate the key factors which influence the effectiveness and strength of a mentoring relationship.