Baccalaureate Nursing Faculty Perceptions Of The Mentoring Activity Of Immediate Supervisors PDF Download

This interview study examined perceptions of tenure track nursing faculty currently involved, or previously involved, as mentees in nursing departments in order to gather their reports about characteristics of their mentoring relationships, as well as the benefits and shortcomings of the mentoring they experienced. This occurred within seven baccalaureate schools of nursing in a single east coast state. The major conclusions were: 1. Mentors promote interpersonal bonding by serving as guides and resources for their mentees, which results in mentees freely dialoguing with department members. 2. Creating an environment of social support for new faculty mentees involves clearly defining expectations, inviting members to participate with mentors and other university leaders at meetings both at the university, as well as the surrounding communities. It is also important for the department of nursing to ensure that mentors are fully available to provide mentees with opportunities to listen, give advice, and provide feedback. 3. Mentors need to expose their mentees to opportunities for active participation in research, applying for grants, networking, and discussions about internal review board processes, as well as demands placed on nurse educators, as opposed to nurse clinicians. Discussion of all these topics should be incorporated into the department faculty and school of nursing meetings, which mentees should attend. 4. Departmental and school history needs to be communicated to new nursing faculty formally, rather than allowing such information to be only transmitted informally. 5. Mentors must be accessible to mentees when they first start their jobs. How responsive they are and how much time is devoted to the new mentoring relationship is very important, as is responding to mentees needs in a positive fashion by devoting time for one-to-one meetings weekly or every other week. These one-to-one interactions help to facilitate bonding between mentor and mentee.