The theory has implications for healthcare organisations, nursing education and individual nurses. Mentoring Up expounds on the interpersonal connections and reciprocal interactions vital for successful nurse-to-nurse mentoring.

This paper appraises the conceptual development of mentoring in nursing and highlights the need for further research on mentoring that focuses on conceptual clarification and theoretical discovery. Despite an abundance of published articles on mentoring, a paucity of research studies on nurse-to-nurse mentoring exists. Nursing literature abounds with descriptive terminology about mentoring rather than explanatory research. Descriptive terminology does little to develop the concept of mentoring, leaving one to ponder how to implement mentoring relationships in nursing. Published research has primarily focused on two broad categories: mentor characteristics and mentoring relationship outcomes. Although numerous scholars have asserted the need to clearly conceptualize mentoring, limited research focus has contributed to an ambiguous understanding of mentoring. Research that clarifies mentoring as a concept and provides a theoretical explanation of the mentoring relationship will fill a long-standing gap in the literature.

Diabetes education delivered jointly by a trained lay person and a healthcare professional educator with the same educator role can provide equivalent patient benefits. This could provide a method that increases capacity, maintains quality and is cost-effective, while increasing access to self-management education.

The nurse leader role is a vital role in ensuring quality, safety, and staff retention in the health care setting. A new nurse manager often receives little mentoring support when assuming a new role. Fifteen mentor/mentee pairs were provided with 6 training sessions specifically designed using the Hale Mentoring Up theoretical framework. Surveys and focus groups were conducted at mid- and endpoints. Data were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and loaded into NVivo 12. Two attributes that facilitated a positive mentoring relationship emerged from the qualitative analysis: interpersonal and organizational skills. Interpersonal skills included a mentor-mentee relationship that was built upon trust, flexibility, and learning and development; and organizational skills included building relationships both internally and externally. Furthermore, time was identified as a barrier to mentoring. A mentoring program is a vehicle to help support new nurse leaders through an educational intervention and mentoring support program. The development of a mentoring pilot program helps to strengthen future nursing leadership to support new leaders in their roles.

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