Exploring the Student Peer Mentor's Experience in a Nursing Peer Mentorship Program

Abstract

Aspects of self-directed learning may benefit future careers for student peer mentors. Opportunities for program enhancement include coping and communication skills for peer mentors. Future "scaled-up" evaluations are needed for ongoing quality improvements using multimethod approaches. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(7):422-425.].

Practicing Leadership Skills through Peer Mentoring and Teaching: the Lived Experience of BSN Students

“…Within higher education, mentoring has been identified as a high-impact practice that supports student success (Dennison, 2010;Glass & Walter, 2000;Race & Skees, 2010;Ross, Bruderle, & Meakim, 2015. Peer-mentoring can provide mentees with academic, emotional, and social support (Jacobs, 2017;Wong et al, 2016) and is fairly well established in the literature as being academically, socially, and professionally beneficial to participants (Benner et al, 2009;Jacobs, 2017;Vandal et al, 2018;Wong et al, 2016).…”

“…While studies of mentoring usually focus on benefits to the mentees, such as emotional, social, and academic support (Kramer et al, 2018;Wong et al, 2016), some researchers have inquired into the experience of the mentors (Jacobs, 2017;Vandal et al, 2018) and found benefits for them as well (Jacobs, 2017;Wong et al, 2016). In a qualitative, descriptive study of nursing student peer-mentors, Vandal et al (2018) explored the relationship of mentor-mentee pairs and developed themes that mostly focused on the why and how of mentoring with some discussion of the skills gained by the mentor. These skills included communication, collaboration, active listening, self-reflection, and priority-setting.…”

“…Smith, Hober, and Harding (2017) implemented a program of peer-mentoring and found, in a self-report survey of mentors, that "96 % (26/27) felt this program contributed to their leadership development (Smith et al, 2017)." Several studies described growth by peer-mentors in areas relevant to leadership (Jacobs, 2017;Vandal et al, 2018;Wong et al, 2016) However, mentoring programs have not often been studied with leadership skills, specifically as outcome criteria.…”

Studying nursing at Australian satellite university campuses: A review of teaching, learning and support

“…Peer‐mentoring in particular has the potential to benefit both mentee and mentor with their studies, as mentors are able to solidify their knowledge, and develop teaching and leadership skills 31 . Mentors can help students by sharing their own experiences, offering support and providing reassurance 32 . Vandal et al 32 found that face‐to‐face meetings, rather than virtual contact, was the most effective way for mentors and mentees to establish a meaningful relationship.…”

“…Mentors can help students by sharing their own experiences, offering support and providing reassurance 32 . Vandal et al 32 found that face‐to‐face meetings, rather than virtual contact, was the most effective way for mentors and mentees to establish a meaningful relationship. A flexible, unstructured mentoring program allowed mentors to be resourceful, and create their own, unique mentoring style.…”