A Quasi-Experimental Study: Advancing Nursing Practice for the Novice Nurse through Mentorship
Abstract
Nurses who practice in today’s healthcare environment must be experts and leaders who collaborate with other professionals in helping to address current issues and simultaneously shape reforms in the 21st century. Nurses are pivotal in the change process; newly hired nurses are expected to transition into new practice roles with a cursory orientation process and minimal support. This study explored the relationship between nurse mentoring and cultural competency, assessment of patients, clinical decision-making, commitment to professional nursing standards, positive feelings towards nursing at the hospital, and willingness to remain in the profession.
Study participants were 50 medical surgical nurses from an acute care hospital in New York with less than three years nursing experience. Participants volunteered to participate in an eight-week mentorship program. Twenty-five registered nurses were assigned alternately to the mentor program and 25 were assigned to the control group, both groups completed pre-and post-tests. Additionally, fourteen experienced medical surgical nurses who volunteered to be mentors had five years or more of nursing experience and they received an 8-hour mentorship-training workshop. A mentorship curriculum was developed with content inclusion for the differentiation of preceptorship and mentorship; overview of professional development, relationship building and role expectations.
The National League of Nursing (NLN, 2004) endorsed the need for mentorship in terms of a socialization/development process whereby individuals learned the intricacies of the new role they would assume. Socialization into the nursing profession occurred through formal education mentoring and on-the-job experiences, and whenever an individual prepared to move into a new role as a registered nurse, nurse manager, faculty member, advanced clinician, or researcher (NLN, 2004). Benner (1984) claimed that fostering a mentor-mentee relationship and assisting in the learning process of new graduates from nursing schools were significant factors for the clinical advancement of nurses from novice to expert. Roy (2001, 2014) defined Adaptation Theory as four major categories: physiological-physical mode, self-concept group identity mode, role function mode, and interdependence mode. Roy underscored the importance of adaptation through an interdependence mode that addressed the relationship of mentorship in nursing. Additionally, her theory postulates new knowledge can be developed and can be integrated into high level of complex organization changes.
