According to the Nursing and Midwifery council (NMC, 2008) a mentor is someone who must facilitate students and others to develop their competence.
This definition of mentor is ratified by Parsloe (2009): To support and encourage individuals to manage their own learning in order that they may maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be.
Another NMC publication from 2006: “Standards to support learning and assessment in practice” says that The role of the sign-off mentor and/or practice teacher is to make judgments about whether a student has achieved the required standards of proficiency for safe and effective practice for entry to the NMC register.
Reading these three standards it looks simple what to expect from mentor and student during the process of teaching / learning. But in my experience, after twelve years of being a nurse, although sometimes it’s stressful, most of the time mentoring is a very rewarding aspect of nursing.
As a registered nurse with twelve years of experience I already aware of the problems and stresses on the other side in which nursing staff must work under. However, mentoring is also a very rewarding aspect of nursing.
During the time I was a student I had good and bad experiences. I specially remember a bad experience when I was to work on a maternity ward. The day I arrived, my mentor told me “If you don’t want to come it’s ok, because they don’t pay me for being a mentor, so I won’t teach you anything at all¨. In that moment I promised myself that I would make a big effort as a future nurse and mentor to make the teaching/learning experience of my mentees as positive and advantageous as possible. With that purpose, this essay will...
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...g environment can have a direct effect on the mentor – student relationship and on the process of giving feedback. It is essential that the mentor prepares prior to a student arriving on the ward in order to use the learning environment to its full potential. There is also certainly scope for further research to be carried out in relation to mentor / mentee relationships and how this can impact on both learning of the student and the mentor. The same can be said about the process of giving feedback; once again the current literature finds it difficult to agree on a specific formula on how to achieve this. The most important thing that I will take away from my experience is how I can improve for the next time I mentor a student nurse. I will be looking to improve on the way in which I give feedback so that it is done in a way that supports learning and not animosity.
Twibell and Pierre explain why mentoring residency programs play a huge role in employee retention rates. Mentors rather than preceptors are investing in new grad nurses for longer than just a few months. NGNs are receiving constructive criticism from their mentors and serve as mediators between workplace issues. High levels of anxiety are reported in the first few weeks of employment, but with mentors there to have a caring attitude, the levels of anxiety can be greatly decreased and learning can be much easier facilitated (2012).
It is a useful approach for new nurses as it provides them with effective and systematic support in the nursing practice, facilitates their professional development, and enhances the coordination of care within the unique context of general practice. I do believe that in any organization a new employee need to be familiar with company vision and identity. Through careful mentoring the new nurses or employee will understand the basic principle the organization.it has been proven that when you are careful and successful Mentoring new nurses it increase they skills, confidence, decision making , reduce stress and anxiety levels (Zhang 2016, Edwards
The registered nurses, selected to be mentors are the more experience, knowledgeable and will support and nurture the new grad. These Mentors are the individuals that tell the new nurse what she needs to know and will show her ways to accomplish her goals successfully and expose them to opportunities to learn new things. The nur...
As a nurse we always have to use critical thinking, nursing judgment and prioritization. I am continuing using these skills. Finally, this is my midterm mentorship I am continuing learning and open myself to gain new experience and to be a successful nurse.
I presume the role transition from academic nursing student to Graduate Nurse will be challenging and rewarding. In their findings, the researchers Doody, Tuohy & Deasy (2012) stated that for a successful transition NGNs need to be competent in a range of domains: interpersonal skills, managing workloads, providing health information, communication, and prioritising care delivery. Although I believe I am competent in the above specified areas, I am still not confident that I would get sufficient support in the hospital environment in terms of knowledge sharing, moral support and being given constructive feedback. Constructive criticism increases confidence in the work role and reduces stress in an individual (Doody, Tuohy & Deasy, 2012). In my previous professional placements I have been able to demonstrate my competency to work in the healthcare environment. I have received positive feedback from placement educators, buddy nurses and patients. Despite being competent in a range of the above areas NGNs may still face transition shock.
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 mentors in the past, such as being emotionally sensitive and sometimes employing diversity mentoring
“Organizational Management & Leadership A Christian Perspective” defines a mentor as “individuals that provide career guidance, advice, help with obstacles along the way and can explain off culture and politics or give insight into how to make a presentation to different managers within the organization.”
I currently have three professional goals. The first is to obtain a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree specializing in nursing education. Once I have graduated with this degree I hope to obtain a position working in this field teaching undergraduate nursing students. As an instructor I also hope to be a great mentor. A great mentor is someone who a student feels comfortable with as they learn and confident in the instructor’s guidance as they learn the world of nursing. An excellent mentor would never flaunt the knowledge that they have and belittle the student. Mentoring strengthens the overall nursing skills of the facility (Bryant et al., 2015). A mentor who believes in this will pass along this value to their students.
Mentorship is an integral part of nursing profession as qualified nurse have the responsibility of supporting and developing future nurses (Hodges, 2009). Hence, this essay will discuss Strategies a mentor can implement to support an underperforming learner in a practice environment. Mentorship is essential in the training and development of nursing student. This will explore how a mentor can identify underperforming learner, evaluate mentors interventions and discuss accountability in relation to decision making to the learners achievements.
Tetheridge, J. (2010) 'Interviewing student and qualified nurses to find out what makes an effective mentor', Nursing Times, 106 (48), pp 19 – 21
Preceptor recruitment, preparation, and compensation; preparation and evaluation of the students; as well as the setting and overall experience for both student and preceptor have long since been starting points for literature reviews when addressing new graduate nurse practitioner (NP) clinical competency upon entry to practice. Preceptor models and student/mentor relationships address, in part, the following benefits: opportunities for critical thinking, operationalizing theoretical concepts, enhancing professional behaviors, interaction with peers and ancillary personnel, all while doing so in a real world environment (Ivey, 2006).
In this paper I will discuss how preceptors and educational leaders have contributed to my nursing career and many others. The mentors who have the most influence on nurses are those that stick with the nurses and help give them the motivation they need to move through obstacles. In the first few paragraphs, I will discuss my personal experience with a mentor and the characteristics they possessed that were beneficial to me. Mentors have become a great influence in my career and many others. In the last section of this paper, I will discuss some of my personal experiences in example and support why I value the characteristics by referring back to peer reviewed articles. Preceptors are essential and irreplaceable in the nursing profession and in this paper will describe how they are active in every nurse’s life and profession.
nursing students. Students in today’s world may not grow up with the same values and respect for the patients as the patients grew up with for their elders. However, the fact remains that to be good productive nurses a caring process should be learned and used when caring for their patients. Caring means that the students
Turner, J. (2006). Coaching and mentoring in health and social care: The essentials of practice
In my medical career, I have been privileged to work alongside some of the most professional, dedicated, knowledgeable and compassionate nurses. I have seen first-hand the difference that they can make in a patient’s life and their family, during those unfortunate times when sickness and injury can be so overwhelming. The appreciation and respect that I have for nurses, as well as their indispensable contribution to the health care system, is what encourage me to pursue nursing as a profession.