The Skills and Qualities Necessary Required to Establish and Maintain an Effective Working Relationship

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The Skills and Qualities Necessary Required to Establish and Maintain an Effective Working Relationship In this essay I have chosen to explore the skills and qualities

required to establish and maintain an effective working relationship

with my mentor in practice in the role of supervisee. I will discuss

communication skills, willingness to learn, self-awareness,

assertiveness, open-mindedness, reflective skills as criteria of

mentee to establish working relationship with mentor.

The term mentor originates from Greek mythology, was first introduce

in academic and business world of north America (Laurent 1998) used in

United Kingdom with the implementation of project 2000 in the national

health service (Bracken 1989) to help smooth transition from student

to professional. (Philips et al 1996, Grey M and Smith1999). The

dictionary defines a mentor as a trusted counselor or guide. A mentor

is generally an influential, experienced individual with whom mentee

establish a personal relationship and who actively helps mentee reach

their goals. The terms mentorship are designated to staff nurses who

engage in a multitude of roles supporting student nurses in the

clinical setting. (Quinn2000). And reducing the theory practice gap

(Earnsaw 1995). Mentorship is a mechanism that promotes safe and

effective practice, maintains standards and accountability, and

develops nurse practitioners autonomy.

Proctor (1998) has grouped supervisees' skills under three functions:

formative, supportive and normative. Supervisee should be keen,

capable, trustworthy, attentive, ...

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