Mentorship: Enhancing Skills and Reducing Stress in Students

Benefits of Mentorship

Mentorship can be broken down into peer and professional associations. A peer mentoring study was done by Bulut et al. (2010) which had first year nursing students paired with fourth year nursing students, this relationship increased the students’ perceptions and potentials of the university. Other outcomes included decreasing first year students stress levels, increasing self-confidence, autonomy and problem solving skills. Benefits for the senior students were developing a sense of responsibility, enhancing communication skills, critical thinking skills and leadership skills. Some negative factors mentioned in this study that hindered mentorship was intimidating attitudes and poor communication from the mentors (Bulut

According to Race & Skees (2010) a mentor should be friendly, have a sense of humor, patience, interpersonal skills, be approachable and have professional development attributes’. Exceptional communication skills, experience, supportive, open and friendly are important mentor traits, but being a role model in patient care, having a positive image about the nursing profession (Jakelainen et al., 2011) and a sense of humanity are the most vital traits according to Chen & Lou (2013). Being able to provide positive feedback (Huybrecht et al., 2011; Jokelainen et al., 2013), provide a safe learning environment, and advise on career planning are skills a mentor requires to guide successful mentees (Chen & Lou, 2013). Metcalfe (2010, p. 168) share that “empathy, maturity, self-confidence, resourcefulness and willingness to commit time and energy” are qualities a mentor should possess. Overall feelings of wellbeing and job satisfaction were enhanced by mentors taking on mentorship (Jokelainen et al.,

However the institution must be willing to support mentorship programs. For educational institutes and clinical practice settings mutual partnerships regarding co-operation and support are needed to develop the capability of the mentor to provide effective mentorship to mentees (Jokelainen et al., 2013). Jokelainen et al. (2013) suggests the mentor know the curriculum which will ensure consistency. One drawback was a lack of partnerships made between educational institutes and clinical practice placements, collaborative partnerships are needed (Jokelainen et al., 2013). Educational and clinical institutions should be providing peer-review process of the mentor’s capabilities, along with proper support, adequate preparation. These actions will strengthen the motivation of the mentor to the student’s. Unit staff should be involved in partnership collaboration with the mentorship program to equip students with the necessary tools to acquire competent nursing skills. Increasing collaboration among educational institutes, clinical facilities and unit staff creates a positive work environment, which will improve job satisfaction and turnover rates (Jokelainen et al.,