The Role of Mentors in the Nursing Sector - Assignment Example

? The role of mentors in leadership The role of mentors in leadership Introduction Mentoring is a collaborative and reciprocal learning relationship, which takes place between two employees with mutual goals, objectives, and shared liability for the achievement of the relationship. A mentor is an expert, guide or more experienced personnel who acts as a role model and helps to develop less or new experienced leaders (Aston & Hallam, 2011). In many situations, mentoring refers to a spontaneous relationship that takes place between two people who have a common goal. However, mentoring is always successful when the leader and the mentor intentionally matches or pairs. This often happens in health care facilities whereby nurses change into another role. The new nurses pairs with more experienced nurses to learn new leadership skills and develop their experiences into a new role (Aston & Hallam, 2011). This paper will explore the fundamental roles of mentors in nursing profession. According to Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, it is not just mentors and leaders benefit from the mentoring relationship but also the entire nursing profession such as patients and their relatives Literature review With the general growth of nursing profession, the role of mentors in the nursing sector seems to be more effective. Much of earlier work emphasizes the importance of mentors in nursing profession. Benner (2004) states that, acquiring new skills and experiences needs progression in all levels and stages. Thus, she argued that these levels and stages are novice, competent, advanced beginner, expert, and proficient. Research has also shown how mentors not only benefit nurses but also patients and their families (see, for instance, Vance, 2011). Some studies, however have taken a different approach by showing how nurses should benefit from mentoring website programs, for instance, IOM report. Studies show that both mentors and leaders benefit from the mentoring process. Mentor-ship Mentoring process is more than preceptorship or orientation; it may last for several weeks or may take three-month probation duration. During this period, the leader is able to learn what he or she is unfamiliar with hence improving and developing his or her experience (Grossman, 2013). Mentor-ship duration is not limited; it is an ongoing relationship, which can last for a long period until both the mentor and leader find value and meaning in it. A mentoring process occurs at any level of ones career, whether you are a new graduate to the field, an experienced nursing working as a clinical specialist or as a manager, or an experienced clinical nurse assuming the leadership position as the shared governance council’s chairperson (Grossman, 2013). Some nurses however, become mentors in future whereby, they use their own knowledge, wisdom, and experience to train and offer meaningful experience to new leaders in the nursing field. Most authors define mentoring as a partnership between a mentor acting as a teacher and a leader acting as a learner. As an educator, a mentor acts as facilitators and guides of learning. As learners, leaders have the responsibility of maintaining their own behaviors and learning (Grossman, 2013). All people have various opportunities of becoming a new thing in their lives although this is not an easy thing. Each person has fear to the unknown, fear of committing mistakes, uncertain confidence, and always, uncomfortable sentiment. Everyone as experienced that and he or she will live to experience it repeatedly (Kilgallon & Thompson, 2012). Being a mentor, it is essential to remember your situation when you were a new leader, how it was like being new to a certain position, and how your mentors helped you to be whom you are today. This will really help one grow a helping altitude to assist others develop their skills and experiences. However, it helps a mentor to get in the leaders’ reference frame. Novice to expert continuum Benner in her book states that, acquiring new skills and experiences needs progression in all levels and stages. These levels and stages are novice, competent, advanced beginner, expert, and proficient. When nurses get in position of unfamiliar or new roles, they normally start at the novice phase. Novice makes use of rules and various facts to control their roles (Benner, 2004). They always adhere to these facts and rules with no considerations for the milieu of their condition. It is challenging a novice to carry out all his or her duties without consultation or guidance from their mentors (Benner, 2004). They are only able to carry out one task at a time since they cannot carry out more than one task at a time. Most novices feel that they are much comfortable with their responsibilities immediately after taking up a new position. It is essential for mentors and leaders to understand and remember that, the process of learning new skills takes time (Benner, 2004). Both parties must be patient in the course of this formative time and understand that what is taking place is normal. Given time, the new nurses learn new skills and gain more experience and advance to higher levels and beginners. It is imperative for mentors to continue playing a significant role in ensuring that leaders acquire the necessary skills and experience (Benner, 2004). Mentors With many people, time seems to be the most valued commodity in current days. Many potential mentors feel that they have no enough time to waste mentoring new nurses especially when they are busy with their own workload. However, mentors should understand that, time spend mentoring new nurses is not wasted. This is time well used for leaders and mentors, and the entire health care facility as well (Grossman, 2013). This is a big contribution to improving and advancing the expectations of nursing career and leadership. There are quit an abundance of websites, which provide mentoring information on nursing mentor-ship programs. It is advisable for nurses to visit these websites or even ask their facility’s managers or human resource managers to offer formal mentoring. Such nursing mentoring website programs include Minority Nurse.com and many others (Grossman, 2013). Mentors assist leaders to learn their role, ropes, political background, and the organization’s culture in a formal however unstructured format (Kilgallon & Thompson, 2012). They create a conducive and welcoming environment that allows new nurses to control their relationship with others and at the same time allows them to communicate their concerns and requirements freely. Mentors should be approachable, personable, competent, and reasonable people committed to help new nurses and leaders achieve their goals in nursing career (Kilgallon & Thompson, 2012). Effective mentors have enough confidence with their skills, knowledge, and success such that they do not distinguish the learners or their achievements as threatening. Mentors focus on seeking situations that will influence development of the leaders’ experience. Mentors give guidance and insights to new nurses on how to carry out some roles that otherwise they would have learned through hardship, terror, and errors (Kilgallon & Thompson, 2012). They ask leaders plenty of questions such as “why” in order to encourage them change and reflect on certain situations alternative potentials. Mentors are effective at linking various pieces and bits of the new nurses’ lives, such as home and work, feelings and thought, and achievements and failures. They try to focus on a big picture and future live. Mentors put much effort on mentoring the leaders to grow their critical thinking skills and development from novice phase to professional continuum (Kilgallon & Thompson, 2012). Leaders Leaders become more successful only when they carefully listen to guidance of their mentors and be ready to soak what they learn from their mentors as quickly as possible. Mentors are the main source of nursing leadership knowledge (Kinnell & Hughes, 2010). This is because they have served in the same field for a long period, doing the same thing, and therefore, they have enough experience on how to perform all duties successfully. Therefore, leaders have the opportunity to gain skills and develop their own experience from effective mentor-ship relationship. Successful mentor-ship relationships depend on the parties’ trust, self-disclosure, willingness, affirmation, and skills in offering and receiving feedback. Mentors and leaders must understand that the process of mentoring involves significance time and energy consumption in order to achieve the necessary goals (Kinnell & Hughes, 2010). Living up to commitments and promises to each other is essential in a mentor-ship relationship. After going through an effective mentor-ship relationship, leaders feel that their skills and experience refueled and thus inspired to create a difference in their nursing practice. Other benefits that a leader can acquire from an effective mentoring relationship include enhanced leadership skill, increased self-confidence, and reduced stress, political perceptive, and ethical and legal insight, among many others (Kinnell & Hughes, 2010). Mentoring facilitates professional growth There are proves that mentoring is a successful way of influencing expert growth and development of new graduated nurses and those who are switching to new positions. The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN) recognizes mentoring value for nurses in the acute of healthcare facilities (Marquis & Huston, 2009). AMSN has currently changed its long-serving Nurses Nurturing Nurses (N3) mentoring program to an individual-directed one that offers the designing tools for successful mentoring program of an individual, whether you are leaders, mentor, or coordinator of the mentoring program. The AMSN Mentoring program is available on the AMSN website on complimentary basis (Marquis & Huston, 2009). The program has a guide for mentors, leaders’ guide, the program’s coordinator guide, and mentoring introduction. One is able to use and modify the available information on the program and tools offered in any style one consider appropriate for his or her healthcare facility or for one’s benefit (Marquis & Huston, 2009). Mentoring benefits the entire nursing profession Not just mentors and leaders benefit from the mentoring relationship but also the entire nursing profession such as patients and their relatives. This is according to Institute of Medicine (IOM) released in the year 2010 about the future of nursing (Vance, 2011). The report concluded that mentoring is an effective approach of strengthening the nursing experience and skills and advance care quality and patients’ outcomes. Nurses form the largest department in the healthcare professional and thus nurses spent most of their time with the sick than any other specialists (Canham & Bennett, 2002). As a result, nurses have similar insights to discuss in health care reform debates. Mentors help nurses become effective leaders who can play a major role in the design, development, and offering healthcare service, which as a result will advance the world’s healthcare system, as the IOM report states. Mentors also help academic institutions and healthcare facilities to maintain nurses and educators hence minimizing the risk of nurse shortage in the nursing faculty. According to IOM report, mentors have a strategy that increases the range of white and female nursing profession hence narrowing health disparities (Canham & Bennett, 2002). Conclusion In conclusion, mentors play a vital role in ensuring growth and development other nurses’ skills and experience. Mentors are essential for new graduated nurses, those assuming new positions, or perhaps making an investigation of new nursing roles (Vance, 2011). All the above situations have common objectives, that is, to learn the new position’s ropes. One of the effective avenues for these situations is mentoring. Mentors not only help nurses develop their skills and experiences but also advance health care quality for the patients and their families. In order for leaders to grow and develop into successful experts, they should listen carefully to their mentors’ guidance and cautions. References Aston, L., & Hallam, P. (2011). Successful mentoring in nursing. Exeter [U.K.: Learning Matters. Benner, P. E. (2004). From novice to expert: Excellence and power in clinical nursing practice. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall. Grossman, S. (2013). Mentoring in nursing: A dynamic and collaborative process. New York, NY: Springer Pub. Co. Kilgallon, K., & Thompson, J. (2012). Mentoring in nursing and healthcare: A practical approach. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons. Kinnell, D., & Hughes, P. (2010). Mentoring nursing and healthcare students. Los Angeles: SAGE. Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2009). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Vance, C. (2011). Fast facts for career success in nursing: Making the most of mentoring in a nutshell. New York: Springer Pub. Canham, J., & Bennett, J. A. (2002). Mentor-ship in community nursing: Challenges and opportunities. Osney Mead, Oxford: Blackwell Science. Read More