Mentoring as a teaching-learning strategy in nursing
Perhaps you are a newly graduated nurse. What all of these situations mentoring in common is a need to learn the ropes mentoring a new position. One effective avenue is mentoring. Jill is a new RN who had been seeking a nurse position in her home state. She felt fortunate to have found a position at a nursing center about miles from her family. Jill is encountering many new things at once: One of the reasons Jill selected the medical-surgical unit at her new hospital is because her interview with the nurse manager and the unit staff went so well. She found them to be welcoming, caring, friendly, professional, and patient-centered. Jill had the opportunity to interview with a mentor and mentee in the program, and it was this interview that sealed the deal for her decision to accept the position. Mentoring is a reciprocal and collaborative learning relationship between two individuals with mutual goals and shared accountability for teaching-learning success of the relationship. The mentor is the guide, expert, and role model who helps develop a new or less experienced mentee. In many instances, mentoring is a spontaneous relationship that develops between two people. However, mentoring can also be successful when the mentor and mentee are paired or matched intentionally. This is often the case in health care facilities when a mentee transitions into a new role. The mentee is paired with an experienced nurse to learn a new position and develop in the role. Mentoring is more than orientation or preceptorship, which may last a few weeks or through a three-month probationary period. Some nurses may also teaching-learning a mentor themselves one teaching-learning, using their knowledge, wisdom, and experience to provide meaningful learning experiences for a mentee. Mentoring is a partnership between the mentor as a teacher and the mentee as a learner. As adult learners, mentees are responsible for their own learning and behaviors. As teachers, mentors act as guides or facilitators of learning. There is fear of the unknown, uncertain confidence, fear of making mentoring mistake, and just the uncomfortable feeling of not being in control. In the role of a mentor, it is very helpful to remember what it was like being new to a position or task. It helps to get in the strategy of reference of the mentee. Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practicesays learning new skills requires a progression through stages or levels. These levels are novice, advanced teaching-learning, competent, proficient, and expert. When nurses take on new and unfamiliar roles, they often begin at the novice stage. Novices use rules and facts to guide their actions. They adhere to these rules without consideration for the context of the situation. It is difficult for a novice to put all of the parts together and see the whole picture. They are concerned with the tasks at hand and often cannot do more than one thing at a time. Most novices want to feel and be seen as competent immediately upon taking on a new role. It is uncomfortable knowing one does not have a firm grasp of the position. Mentors and mentees must remember that learning new skills is a process that takes time. With time and experience, novice nurses continue to experience the real world and progress to the advanced beginner and higher levels of the continuum. Mentees will become successful in their roles more quickly when they listen actively to what is going on and are willing to soak up as much learning as possible. Thus, mentees can gain a tremendous amount from an effective mentoring relationship. Successful mentoring relationships are built upon trust, openness to self-disclosure, affirmation, and willingness and skill in giving and receiving feedback. Mentoring involves a significant expenditure of time and energy on the part of the mentor and especially the mentee. Living up to promises and commitments to each other is extremely important to the relationship. Mentees learn to achieve a balance between their own independence and reliance on the mentor. Over time, the independence will most likely dominate and the relationship will change. After experiencing an effective mentoring relationship, mentees often feel refueled and inspired to make a difference in their practice. Other benefits of mentoring for the mentee include:. Time seems to be the most precious commodity these days. However, the time invested in mentoring a nurse transitioning to a new role is time well spent for the mentor and mentee, as well as the unit and facility. It is a huge contribution to advancing the future of nursing. Mentors help mentees learn the ropes, their role, the political environment, and the culture of the unit or organization in a formal—yet unstructured—way. They create a warm and accepting environment that allows mentees to control the relationship, while at the same time allowing mentees to be themselves and voice relevant needs and concerns. Mentors are personable, approachable, reasonable, and competent individuals committed to helping mentees achieve the success of which they are capable. Effective mentors are confident enough in their own knowledge, skills, and successes that they do not perceive mentees or their accomplishments as threatening. Mentors provide their mentees with insights that would otherwise have been gained only through trial and error. They try to look at the bigger picture and the future. Mentors help their mentees grow in their critical-thinking skills and progress along the novice to expert continuum. Not every relationship is successful. This can be true of a mentoring relationship as well. One partner might grow faster than the other or in a different direction, and a strain on the relationship may occur. One common problem is the lack of follow-up and commitment to sustain the relationship. Mentors might overburden the mentee with work and responsibilities and vice versa. Mentees may become a clone of the mentor and lose their individuality. They strategy also become too dependent on their mentors. An unfavorable incident may occur in which the mentor or mentee feels let down or betrayed. Jealousy and personal or ethical disagreements can also strain the relationship. There is also the case of toxic mentors who are detrimental to the success of their mentees. Toxic mentors may be unavailable or inaccessible to mentees or may throw the mentees to the wolves to either sink or swim. Both mentors and mentees can learn from nursing problems others have encountered in the mentoring relationship. If signs of these problems begin to develop, both individuals have a responsibility to confront the situation and actively plan a resolution or dissolution. Prior to entering into a mentoring relationship, both parties should agree to a no-fault separation if one or both individuals realize the relationship is not working. Mentoring has proven to be a successful way of facilitating the professional growth and development of recently graduated nurses and other nurses transitioning to a new role. The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses AMSN has long recognized the value of mentoring for nurses in the acute care setting. AMSN has recently evolved its long-standing Nurses Nurturing Nurses N3 mentoring program into a self-directed format that provides the tools for designing a successful mentoring program of your own, whether you are a mentor, mentee, or a mentoring program coordinator. The AMSN Mentoring Program is provided on a complimentary basis on the AMSN website. You may use and customize the information and tools provided in any manner you deem appropriate for your facility or yourself. This article is adapted from a version previously published as nursing chapter nursing the anthology Transforming Nursing Education: The Culturally Inclusive Environment S. Globalization is mentoring the way we live and work, and by extension, it is transforming the experiences and aspirations of students entering Nurse Practitioner NP programs. But just what does this statement mean? Are nurses like wild animals that carry their young in their arms only to devour them at the…. Today, however, thanks to intensive multicultural outreach recruiting designed to better reflect the demographics of…. Jan Pflugfelder, RN, MS, knows what it takes for Native American students to succeed in nursing school: Pflugfelder, a doctoral student at Loyola University School of Nursing in Chicago, supplies…. Our Network Daily Nurse Neonatal Network SpringBoard Springer Publishing Company Facebook Twitter RSS My Account Log Out 0 Items. Jobs Search Jobs Nursing Employers Nursing Associations Sign up for Nurse Job Alerts Scholarships Education Nursing Programs Nursing Statistics Events Magazine Past Issues Blog Subscribe For Employers Media Kit Post a Job Register FAQs Post a Job. Mentoring Nurses Toward Success by Cynthia Nowicki Hnatiuk Mar 30, MagazineNursing Mentorship. So what exactly is mentoring? Novice to expert continuum Patricia Benner, Ph. Mentees Mentees will become successful in their roles more quickly when they listen actively to what is going mentoring and are willing to soak up as much learning as possible. Other benefits of mentoring for the mentee include: The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses provides guides and information for mentorship programs. Cynthia Nowicki Hnatiuk, EdD, RN, CAE, FAAN, is the Chief Executive Officer of the Academy of Strategy Nurses and the American Academy of Strategy Care Nursing, and CEO of the Medical-Surgical Nursing Certification Board. She is the author of Mentoring the Strategy A Program for Volunteer Board Leaders. Latest posts by Nursing Nowicki Hnatiuk see all Mentoring Nurses Toward Success - March 30, Mentoring African American Nursing Students: Mentoring and the Use of Innovative Curriculum Design to Develop a Global Nurse Leader Globalization is changing the way we live and work, and by extension, it is transforming the experiences and aspirations of students entering Nurse Practitioner NP programs. Mentors to the Max Jan Pflugfelder, RN, MS, knows what it takes for Native American students to succeed in nursing school: Caring for Transgender Patients. Find a Job Search Nursing Jobs Find Scholarships Search Events Browse Nursing Employers. Post a Job Why MinorityNurse. About Us About Us Contact Us Advisory Board Write for Teaching-learning. Minority Nurse Springer Publishing Company 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor New York, NY
Individual Goals Writing Editor Rating: 3 out of 5 stars User Rating: 3 out of 5 stars A framework to help students write individual goals for each quarter.
This blog is maintained by Shamini Dias, Coordinator of the CGU Writing Center and facilitator for the Dissertation Workshop.
John boarded the Forerunner dreadnought, which was bound for Earth, but not before promising to return for Cortana after he stopped Truth.