Group mentorship programme for graduating nursing students to facilitate their transition: A pilot study

Abstract

This pilot project highlights the value to nursing leadership of group mentoring partnerships between academic and clinical settings, which can improve the integration of new nurses in the workplace and increase mentors' awareness of the needs of these nurses.

Mentors' self‐assessed competence in mentoring nursing students in clinical practice: A systematic review of quantitative studies

“…Education is valuable for enhancing mentoring competence according to O'Brien et al (), and both mentors and students have expressed wishes for further basic and advanced level education (Hvalič‐Touzery et al, ; Jack et al, ; Pitkänen et al, ). Education helps mentors not only to develop pedagogical competences, but also to improve their knowledge of nursing curricula and bridge the theory‐practice gap, which often hinders clinical learning and contributes to the shock of transition from undergraduate education to a professional nursing career (Duchscher, ; Lavoie‐Tremblay et al, ).…”

“…In addition, planning clinical practices improves mentors' attitudes (O'Brien et al, 2014), and mentors play important roles as role models (ideally displaying high levels of professional patient-centredness and leading by example) in developing students' professional identity (Felstead & Springett, 2016 Jack et al, 2018;Pitkänen et al, 2018). Education helps mentors not only to develop pedagogical competences, but also to improve their knowledge of nursing curricula and bridge the theory-practice gap, which often hinders clinical learning and contributes to the shock of transition from undergraduate education to a professional nursing career (Duchscher, 2009;Lavoie-Tremblay et al, 2019).…”

“…Here, clinical mentors are defined as registered nurses (RNs) who are responsible for nursing students' learning processes by guiding and promoting their learning (Hilli et al, ; Jokelainen, Jamookeeah, Tossavainen, & Turunen, ; Löfmark, Thorkildsen, Råholm, & Natvig, ; Walker et al, ). Mentoring relationships and individualised support for students have recognised impact on the effectiveness of clinical learning (Courtney‐Pratt et al, ; Dimitriadou, Papastavrou, Efstathiou, & Theodorou, ; Ford et al, ; McSharry & Lathlean, ; Warne et al, ) and can promote effective transition from undergraduate education to a postgraduation professional career (Lavoie‐Tremblay, Sanzone, Primeau, & Lavigne, ). Mentorship also requires organisational support through co‐operation with colleagues and nurse management on both ward and hospital levels (Jokelainen et al, ).…”

A university/healthcare institution mentorship programme: Improving transition to practice for students

“…Based on the positive results from the pilot evaluation (Lavoie‐Tremblay et al, ) previously described, the decision was made to proceed with an expanded version of the programme. This version of the programme incorporates new topics such as job hunting and licensure exam preparation (see Table ).…”

“…A recent project pilot was offered to nursing students in their final year of study at a public university in Montreal. This pilot, which aimed at preparing students for the transition to practice and was offered prior to their graduation from nursing school, resulted in high levels of satisfaction with the programme for both mentees and mentors; the pilot also had a positive impact on mentees' transition into the workplace, their stress level and their self‐confidence (Lavoie‐Tremblay, Sanzone, Primeau, & Lavigne, ). While these results were promising, the aforementioned study was conducted entirely with surveys, so we know little about the mentees' reasons for participating in the programme or their experiences throughout.…”