Utilizing a Nurse Mentor in the Workplace
Mentoring programs are becoming increasingly more common in the workplace, especially in the nursing field! Nurses entering a new position today are finding a very fast paced environment. And, because of budget cut backs nurses are being expected to provide care for a higher ratio of patients at one time. This increase in work load can be emotionally and physically draining on new nurses as well as existing nurses.
Many attempts have been made to ease the nursing shortage that we are experiencing today. Healthcare facilities are utilizing mentorship programs in the hopes of helping current nurses cope with day to day issues as well as retaining new hires as they are brought into the workforce.
What is a Nurse Mentor?
Mentors in the nursing industry are qualified nurses at a facility that will usually have acquired trust among peers due to quality of work and length of time at the facility. They may also be those nurses that have attained a certain level of education and now wish to help guide others in their nursing career. Nurse mentors are somewhat of a big sister/brother in the workplace.
Nurses are paired with their mentors immediately upon being hired with the sole intention of making the new hire feel as welcome in their new position as possible. The mentorship program helps to establish a base that a new nurse can go to if they need advice or help on the job as well as giving them a boost in confidence to perform their duties. Mentorship's generally last up to the first year of a nurses hire date.
What Makes a Good Mentor?
The role of Mentor is not a position every nurse should try to take on. It requires the expertise of being a good listener, teacher, and coach. Mentors should have the ability to show compassion and understanding while maintaining a professional role in the work place. Of course this will only work if the new hire is committed to the program and is open to their mentor's opinion and embraces their help.
A Good Fit
Many employers are going a step further by attempting to judge the personality of a new hire and to choose a mentor that they feel would be a good match. This has met with great success. In almost all cases there is no additional monetary compensation for the time a mentor spends with a new nurse. Their reward and payment comes from the self satisfaction of making a difference in another's life.
Having the opportunity to be mentored upon entering a new position is a relatively new concept but it is being met with a wide range of success. Nurses are able to feel more comfortable on the job because they know they are not alone. There is someone there that they can go to if they are feeling overwhelmed and that makes all the difference in their job performance and state of mind.
