How does the quality of mentors reflect on student nurses grade on placement - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages... A mentee can even make the decision to work on an ability, during placement, that his or her mentor has identified as a personal strength even though the mentee may not completely believe this; thus improving his or her overall marketability. Research Question: How does the quality of Mentors reflect on nursing students grades on placement? Introduction In nursing, mentoring can be said to be a part of the ‘helping process’ that allows student nurses to benefit from the experience of the more practiced nurses. Mentoring allows the structural, insightful, and intentional learning which takes place in different stages. The mentor is expected to account for his or her own as well as the mentee’s experience. The professional student nurse mentor will help the student nurse to realize her potential and demonstrate how best to put theoretical issues into practice. The professional student nurse also plays a big part in determining their placements. They can establish learning contracts for their mentees which help the student nurses to learn about how to participate in projects. Rationale Mentoring is the prime example of self-directed learning. It basically calls for a mentor and mentee to take responsibility for all the learning processes that are necessary (Carter, Hudyma, and Horrigan 2010). In most professions, including nursing, the recognized codes of ethics stress the tradition and professional requirement of passing to new learners the skills and abilities that they require in order to be competent. In a mentoring relationship between a student nurse and a certified medical practitioner is mutually defined and shared (Kenyon and Peckover 2008). Moreover, the mentor’s character plays an important part in influencing the student nurse’s selection of placement choice as well as future career. Through the study of the importance of mentorship qualities, mentors will be able to recognize the effect that their behaviors have on their mentees (Young and Curzio 2007). This study will also give suggestions on how mentors can alter their approaches towards student nurses so as to avail intervention strategies that will help the mentees to make more informed decisions in future. For many students to benefit the most from mentoring relationships, mentors must be able to understand when they do not make the best decisions for the situations they are in (Harwood, Reimer-Kirkham, Sawatzky, Terblanche, and Van Hofwegen 2009). They must also be able to recognize what other options they have in terms of their dealing with difficult situations, and the effects that will materialize in mentees if their behavior impacts on student nurses in a negative way (Sedgwick and Yonge 2009). Background Research studies conducted by specialists have shown that mentors play a significant role in the lives of student nurses. In addition, the individual qualities of the mentor can greatly affect how a student nurse responds to his or her placement. For example, mentors who hold the view that supervising a student nurse’s placement is a privilege for them tend to have more influence on their mentees (Jokelainen, Jamookeeah, Tossavainen and Turunen, 2013). Understanding mentors will also seek to make sure that their student nurses acquire the required clinical skills that are required ...Download file to see next pagesRead More