Nurse Mentorship
Mentorship is a crucial aspect of nursing. When nurses transition from their formal education to real-life clinical experiences, they need guidance and support to apply their theoretical knowledge to practice. That’s where mentors come in! Experienced nurses can help novice nurses develop new skills, overcome obstacles, and integrate into the workplace effectively.
Nurses progress from novice to expert at various stages of their careers: from an undergraduate nursing employee to a grad nurse to their professional practice in their RN/RPN/LPN role. While mentorship is important to a “newly graduated nurse”, it is almost as important to nurses who transition to different areas in nursing which may make them “novice” in their new area of practice. The novice nurse has recently completed formal education but benefits from additional supports to transition from the role of novice to expert. During this transition period, a novice nurse requires the guidance of others to learn how to apply theoretical knowledge to real life clinical experiences (Benner, 1984). Helping the novice nurse develop new skills, overcome obstacles, and integrate into the workplace is crucial. Research has shown that an effective integration into the workplace can aid in recruitment, job satisfaction, and promote retention. An essential part of this integration includes mentorship.
Mentoring not only facilitates best clinical practices and professional growth for the mentee but also the mentor must remain current with policies and practices to best guide the mentee, making it a mutually beneficial relationship (Howard 2020).
CRNM Practice Expectation Spotlight: Mentorship
