Strengthen Mentoring Culture in Mental Health Nursing Leadership - Literature review Example

Strengthening mentoring culture in mental health nursing leadership in nursing Name Institution Course Tutor Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Concept definition 3 3.0 Literature review 4 4.0 Characteristics of the mentor 6 5.0 Professional issues of mentorship relating to leadership role 6 6.0 Factors shaping mentorship and problem solving for nursing leaders 7 7.0 Nursing leadership theory and application in mentoring 7 7.1 Inspirational Motivation 8 7.2 Individualized consideration 8 7.3 Idealized influence 9 7.4 Intellectual stimulation 9 8.0 Barriers of mentoring 9 9.0 Impact of mentoring to current and future nursing leadership roles 10 10.0 Goals of mentoring 11 11.0 Conclusion 13 Reference List 14 Appendix 16 1.0 Introduction The importance of mentoring relationships is increasingly receiving attention across health care professionals and particularly mental health care settings (Phoenix 2013). In fact it is suggested that mentoring is essential to adult development. In the context of mental health, nurses need to be exposed to nurturing relationships that work against the tendency of nurses to undermine, intimidate and even bull junior nurses (Phoenix 2013). Creating unsupportive work environments for mental health nurses is likely to lead to undesirable outcomes, such as increased turnover, low productivity and loss of nursing professionals to other areas. Additionally, the effect of lack of support and nurturing for junior nurses in mental health care settings goes beyond to affect patient care (Nelsey & Brownie 2012). Contrary, mentoring helps in the development of a supportive workplace that allows nurses to provide quality care. It also prepares nursing colleagues to handle challenging situations that occur in their professional lives (Hodgson & Scanlan 2013). Thus, this calls for strengthening of mentoring culture in leadership in mental health care environment. The purpose of this article is to examine how the culture of mentoring can be strengthened in mental health nursing leadership. 2.0 Concept definition The concept is mentoring is defined as a supportive learning relationship between one person who shares experience, knowledge and wisdom with another person who is not only ready but also wiling to acquire benefits of this exchange so to improve their professional journey (Phoenix 2013). Mentoring is also defined as a process in which an experienced, trusted and wise person guides an individual who is not experienced (Hodgson & Scanlan 2013). These definitions capture essential features of mentoring which include sharing of wisdom and experience, as well as the development of supportive learning atmosphere. On the other hand, leadership is the art of influencing individuals to enable them to struggle willingly and enthusiastically toward attainment of goals (Curtis, de Vries & Sheerin 2011). It can also be defined as a process that involves the use of interpersonal skills to individuals to achieve a particular goal (Sullivan & Garland 2010). A common theme that appears to emerge from these two definitions is that leadership entails influencing feelings, behaviours, beliefs and attitudes of other people. According to Curtis et al (2011) leadership conjures up different images, thoughts and reflections. This may include dynamic personality, autocratic behaviour, charisma, goals, followership, innovation, influence, warmth and kindness. 3.0 Literature review The concept of mentoring is gaining increased attention and acceptance in the health care system as an effective strategy for developing health care professionals (Phoenix 2013). According to Nelsey et al (2012) understanding the concept of mentoring and its application in health care settings is essential in nursing leadership and management. Without comprehensive understanding of the aspect of mentoring, Rees, Payne and Houlaban (2015) argue that healthcare organizations may fail to promote knowledge development, or even develop appropriate leadership programs. Managers in health care system work with large spans of control and receive less support and guidance. This is likely to lead to difficulty in not only recruiting but also retaining new healthcare managers (McNamara et al 2014). Thus, Hodgson and Scanlan (2013) affirm that a strong mentor and support system is an essential element in the transition to a leader role in health care system. Attracting new health professionals is an important issue that must be addressed by healthcare organizations (Rees et al 2015). Additionally, healthcare organizations must recognize and support the use of mentoring in the workplace (Nelsey & Brownie 2012). Nash and Scammel (2010) argue that mentoring in healthcare organizations is used to identify, support, nurture, and develop junior nurse leaders. In mental health care setting, policies are developed that focus on allowing new health professionals to work with mentor who help engage them in activities that focus on professional issues and mental health nursing (Phoenix 2013). In support of and guidance by mental health nursing staff, new nurses are led into discussions on how that can support their continued participation in the provision of mental health care (McNamara et al 2014). Individuals are also helped to build their leadership portfolio. Additionally, many mentoring relationships are established during regular organizational activities (Phoenix 2013). To develop their leadership abilities, new nurses are continually mentored by experienced leaders on conference committees (Phoenix 2013). The topic of mentoring culture in leadership in mental health care has been selected to develop this article in order to provide a greater understanding of the importance of mentoring in the current healthcare system. According to Hodgson and Scanlan (2013) leadership in healthcare system needs to embrace mentoring to provide new health practitioners with supportive environment, in which they can enrich their profession. Additionally, there is need to determine effective ways develop and sustain nursing leaders. Mentoring is considered as one of the invaluable tools to attract and retain good nursing leaders (McNamara et al 2014). 4.0 Characteristics of the mentor Qualities of the mentor can improve the mentoring relationship to enhance effective transition for junior nurses in mental health care environment. Characteristics of the mentor according to Harrington (2011) include being a counselor, an educator, a sponsor, authoritative, and possessing personal commitment. Positive attitudes, skills and knowledge, and experience are also important characteristics of the mentor (Harrington 2011). Thus the mentors should have the ability to impart knowledge, challenge, advice, and counsel his or her juniors (Hodgson & Scanlan 2013). According to LaFleur and White (2010) mentors are honest, knowledgeable, approachable, patient, enthusiastic, friendly, experienced, and willing to spend time with the people they support and guide. They strongly belief in the capability of the mentee; they encourage and support the mentee (Hodgson & Scanlan 2013). However, Harrington (2011) notes that when an individual is a seasoned professional, he or she does not necessary become a good mentor. In this regard, a mentoring program needs to incorporate self-reflection by experienced nurse leaders to evaluate their skills as mentors. 5.0 Professional issues of mentorship relating to leadership role Mentoring relationships vary across settings and can either be formal or informal in nature. Nevertheless, regardless of the setting, mentoring relationship should be conducted professionally. According to Hodgson and Scanlan (2013) if conducted effectively in a professional manner, mentoring relationship has potential for successful personal development for younger nurses. During mentoring relationship, nursing staff should openly share their tactic knowledge and support new nurses in making difficult decisions. As the nurse leader recognizes need and potential of junior nurses, he or she guides and supports them in developing their skills from experience (Harrington 2011). Hodgson and Scanlan (2013) indicate that mentoring relationship should be guided by common goals and mutual respect. Additionally, the mentor and the mentee should share valuable information through effective participation and respectful communication. 6.0 Factors shaping mentorship and problem solving for nursing leaders Many successful nursing leaders are mentors, and many of them are being mentored to become successful leaders in future (Jeans 2010). This is a continuous journey for nursing professionals. Indeed, many nursing leaders appreciate mentorship and consider it to be very important, which is a driving force for developing mentoring programs (Jeans 2010). According to Aston and Hallam (2011) nursing leaders are using mentoring as a learning experience. The rapid changing nature of healthcare calls for continuous career-wide professional development and the potential to adapt to change (Aston & Hallam 2011). Thus, through mentorship, nurse leaders realize that they continue their personal and professional development, as well improve their problem solving skills as mentors. 7.0 Nursing leadership theory and application in mentoring Many successful leaders are considered to have had mentors who in one way or another greatly influenced their development. In particular, the nature of transformational leadership supports effective mentoring relationship in mental health care setting (Nash & Scammel 2010). In this article, we explain how the four dimensions: Inspirational motivation, Individualized consideration, Idealized stimulation, and Intellectual stimulation of Bass’s transformational leadership are manifested in mentoring. 7.1 Inspirational Motivation The success of the transformational leadership depends on a leader’s ability to motivate and inspire followers. In this case, a leader focuses the attention of follower on the future and not on the past (Bass & Riggio 2010). In the context of a mentoring relationship, when a leader articulates a shared vision, it should generate optimism and enthusiasm to convince the mentees that they are capable of meeting the challenge before in the workplace (Heuston & Wolf 2011). The inspirational motivation demonstrated by a leader makes the work meaningful for the mentee. Models of mentoring, according to Bass & Riggio (2010) emphasize the need to provide challenging assignments to individuals. Thus, inspired by transformational leadership, challenging assignments improves the meaningfulness of work for the protégé. 7.2 Individualized consideration The dimension of individualized consideration refers to the emphasis by the transformational leader on the needs of individual mentee in respect to achievement, growth, and career development (Bass & Riggio 2010). This process involves providing new opportunities for learning in a supportive environment taking into consideration individual differences. Individualized consideration requires the leader to, without exerting control, to monitor the work of the mentees and to provide useful feedback and guidance (Schwartz, Spencer, Wilson & Wood 2011). According to Heuston & Wolf (2011) mentoring is identified as an important aspect of individualized consideration. Similarly, many activities reflected in individualized consideration are consistent with psychosocial support found in mentoring relationship. 7.3 Idealized influence Also known as personal charisma, idealized influence occurs when the transformational leaders behave in a way that makes them become role models for the mentees. The actions by such leaders show their concern for the people they mentor, the desire to share risks, and high ethical standards (Bass & Riggio 2010). By use of idealized influence, the behaviour of transformational leader is often consistent which provides followers a clear sense of how a good leader should behave. The dimension of idealized influence is analogous to role modelling concept used in mentoring (Schwartz et al 2011). Generally, leaders musty be trusted and respected to be successful role models in mentoring relationships. 7.4 Intellectual stimulation Transforming other people as a leader requires innovation. Through intellectual stimulation, leaders help mentees perfect their creative and innovative skills. The dimension of intellectual stimulation involves activities such as reframing problems and questioning assumptions (Bass & Riggio 2010). In mentoring relationship, the transformational leaders encourage the mentees to develop new ideas without publicly criticising them for disagreeing with the ideas of the leaders of for making mistakes (Heuston & Wolf 2011). Therefore, the intellectual stimulation in transformational leadership concerning avoiding public criticism is consistent with the activity of protecting the protégé in mentoring relationship. 8.0 Barriers of mentoring Despite an experienced nurse staff or leader having characteristics favorable to mentoring, some factors are likely to be barriers to establishing an effective mentoring relationship in mental health care system. Common barriers for nursing staff in developing successful mentoring relationships with junior nurses include space constraints, time factors, and scheduling limitations (Harrington 2011). Other obstacles to mentoring functions according to LaFleur and White (2010) are lack of organizational support gender. Since mentors tend to provide more psychosocial mentoring to female mentees than it is to the male mentees, the gender of the mentor is likely to be an obstacle for establishing the psychosocial mentoring for male mentees (Harrington 2011). Another issue considered to a barrier of effective mentoring is unwarranted self-critique. The intended outcomes of a mentoring relationship may not be achieved when the mentor displays erroneous self-dialogue (Nash & Scammel 2010). Comments such as the junior nurses should be equally high achieving and hard working simply because I have invested a lot as a mentor can adversely affect the mentoring relationship. According to Harrington (2011) failure to reward the mentor is the form of promotions, tenure or in monetary terms may also be a barrier of mentoring. It is important to develop awareness of these potential barriers to alleviate any obstacles to an effective mentoring relationship in the healthcare organizations. 9.0 Impact of mentoring to current and future nursing leadership roles Mentoring is an essential tool for the current and future nursing leadership. Therefore, it should be considered as a way to enhance and support nursing leaders, as well as a mechanism to promote nursing profession. Mentoring is an important succession planning strategy which healthcare organizations use to not just to attract, but also to retain new nurse leaders (Hodgson & Scanlan 2013). Phoenix (2013) argues that besides facilitating the development of more supportive working environment that provide quality care, mentoring plays an important role in preparing new nursing leaders to handle effectively the larger systems they encounter during their professional lives. By sufficiently developing leadership capacity in nursing through mentoring, mental health care organizations are would adequately be represented in interdisciplinary policymaking bodies as a way of acknowledging their contribution in the health care system (Harrington 2011). Indeed, to prevent the problems of inadequate representation, McNamara et al (2014) belief that nursing staff try to invest in their profession by focusing attention on junior nurses whom they groom for interdisciplinary leadership today and in the future. According to Phoenix (2013) mentoring offers for nurse leaders to show their gratitude to the profession and top their own mentors. As such, they ensure that wisdom they acquire through mentoring continues to benefit nurse colleagues and patients. The contribution and influence of experienced nurse leaders to mentoring programs in the mental health care setting would always live on through the contributions of the individuals they mentor (Hodgson & Scanlan 2013). McNamara et al (2014) assert that being a good mentor gives the satisfaction of knowing that the future of nursing leadership is safe. Through mentoring new nurses would develop organizational commitment, job satisfaction, self-esteem and career growth, which are some of the achievements of nursing leadership (Harrington 2011). Therefore, mentoring does improve the current and future nursing leadership for the healthcare organization hence it need to be supported to facilitate career growth and development for younger nurses. 10.0 Goals of mentoring Like other programs, mentoring program has goals which it meant to achieve. Mentoring in mental health care setting is meant to help junior nurses develop clinical skills, manage patients’ caseloads, manage time and productivity and overcoming fear and anxiety (Sullivan & Garland 2010). Mentoring could also assist new nurses grasp the business aspect of nursing practice, deal with isolation, and balance practice with personal responsibilities. Normally, mentees expect to benefit a lot from the mentoring program in terms of personal development, professional relationship development, and role development (Harrington 2011). At a personal level, mentees expect to develop problem solving skills, self-confidence, career development, or sharing of ideas. Professionally, mentees expect to develop interdisciplinary relationship (Harrington 2011). Generally, the mentoring relationship helps new nurses to transit to the leadership role in primary care. According to Harrington (2011) mentoring relationship affects fours aspects in primary care. These include quality of care, productivity, job satisfaction and longevity. Mentoring affects quality of care for nurses in terms of structure, process, or outcome. Through mentoring, new nurses can strive for quality by ensuring that they use the existing structure and process to achieve better patient outcome (Rees et al 2015). Effective mentoring relationship also helps new nurses to increase productivity. This is because it creates a supportive environment in which new nurses can work to their best to improve productivity (Harrington 2011). Literature shows that effective mentoring relationship can increase job satisfaction among new nurses. According to Harrington (2011) the mentees are likely to feel satisfied with the job because of the good working environment for working mentoring relationship develops. Healthcare institutions have sometimes experienced a shortage of nurses one of the reason being lack of mentoring programs (Nelsey & Brownie 2012). Thus, Nelsey and Brownie (2012) argues that through mentoring programs, hospitals and other healthcare institutions can increase retention of nurses which in turn improves patient care. 11.0 Conclusion Conclusively, healthcare organizations experience the challenge of recruiting and retaining nurse leaders due to failure to embrace mentoring by nursing leadership. Nevertheless, by understanding the concept of mentoring and its application in mental health care setting, nursing leadership can enhance knowledge development and develop leadership programs that would help recruit and retain nurse leaders. The success of the mentoring relationship depends on the capability of the nursing staff to support and guide junior nurses in acquiring tactic knowledge. The article has identified that transformational leadership is also critical to the effectiveness of the mentoring relationship. Through inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, idealized influence, and intellectual stimulation, transformational leaders can influence the mentees become successful leaders today and in the future. During mentoring relationship, the mentor and the mentee are likely to encounter obstacles that affect the success of such relationship. These barriers include limited time and space, scheduling limitations, lack of organizational support, and unwarranted self-critique. Mentoring relationship is meant to enable new nurses to manage patients’ complaints, manage time and productivity, and develop clinical skills, and overcome fear and anxiety. Lastly, mentoring relationship promotes quality of care, productivity, job satisfaction, and longevity in primary care practice. Reference List Aston, L & Hallam, P. 2011, Successful mentoring in nursing, SAGE. Bass, B. M & Riggio, R. E. 2010, “The transformational model of leadership,” Leading organizations: Perspectives for a new era, pp. 76-86. Curtis, E. A, de Vries, J & Sheerin, F. K. 2011, “Developing leadership in nursing: exploring core factors,” British Journal of Nursing, vol. 20, no. 5, p. 306. Harrington, S. 2011, “Mentoring new nurse practitioners to accelerate their development as primary care providers: A literature review,” Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 168-174. Heuston, M. M & Wolf, G. A. 2011, “Transformational leadership skills of successful nurse managers,” Journal of Nursing Administration, vol. 41, no. 6, pp. 248-251. Hodgson, A. K & Scanlan, J. M. 2013, “A concept analysis of mentoring in nursing leadership,” Open Journal of Nursing, vol. 3, no. 05, p. 389. Jeans, M. E. 2010, “Strengthening mentorship for leadership development,” Journal of Nursing Leadership: Academy of Canadian Executive Nurses, vol. 19, no. 2, p. 28. LaFleur, A K & White, B.J. 2010, “Appreciating mentorship: The benefits of being a mentor,” Professional Case Management, vol. 15, pp. 305-313. McNamara, M. S, Fealy, G. M, Casey, M, O'Connor, T, Patton, D, Doyle, L, & Quinlan, C. 2014, “Mentoring, coaching and action learning: interventions in a national clinical leadership development programme,” Journal of clinical nursing, vol. 23, no. 17-18, pp. 2533-2541. Nash, S & Scammel, J. 2010, “Skills to ensure success in mentoring and other workplace learning approaches,” Nursing Times, vol.106, pp. 17-20. Nelsey, L, & Brownie, S. 2012, “Effective leadership, teamwork and mentoring: Essential elements in promoting generational cohesion in the nursing workforce and retaining nurses,” Collegian, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 197-202. Phoenix, B. J. 2013, “Developing a Culture of Mentoring in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing,” Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 215-216. Rees, S, Payne, J & Houlahan, B. 2015, “Creating a Culture for Publication Through Education and Mentoring,” Journal of nursing care quality, vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 187-192. Schwartz, D. B, Spencer, T, Wilson, B & Wood, K. 2011, “Transformational leadership: implications for nursing leaders in facilities seeking magnet designation,” AORN journal, vol. 93, no. 6, pp. 737-748. Sullivan, E J & Garland, G. 2010, Practical Leadership and Management in Nursing, Pearson Education Limited: Harlow. Appendix Appendix A: Links between transformational leadership and mentoring Read More