The Role of Mentors in Nursing Practice - Essay Example

?The role of mentors in evaluating the quality nursing practice Introduction According to West, Clark and Asper, 2008, the role of mentors in nursing practice was instituted for various reasons. One, it proved efficient in other settings such as education institutions, in businesses and support of young people who were mentally challenged in the society. Second, during the 1980s and 19990s, nurse education ascended into a higher education sector which prompted the restructuring of UKCC’s project 2000 pre-registration curricula known as fitness for practice. The project documented the strengths and weaknesses of this project and found out that at the point of registration, students were not clinically competent like those who came from the project 2000.There was a need for wider availability of skilled mentors to enable students become clinically competent and become fit for practice. In talking about the role played by mentors in pre-registration of nurses, Pellat maintains that the practice experience is a most important aspect of preparing nursing students for registration. The current programmes are aimed at enhancing this practice with careful support and supervision. Mentors play a very crucial role in supporting nursing students in practice. The quality of mentorship is highly valuable during this time, and raises an attention because it is the mentors who assess students’ competence for practice at the time of registration. Prince also says that Mentoring offers students an opportunity to instruct, a characteristic of their own professional development and a stepping stone towards career paths. Mentors act as role models. As a mentor, one is required to provide the student with support and guidance in the area of practice. He/she should enable the student to make the practice realistic through applying the theories learnt, assessing and giving effective feedback and enhancing revision of the practice, performances and lessons learnt (Pellatt, 2006,336 – 340) and (Prince ,2004) The Royal college of Nursing toolkit provides basics of mentorship in that Mentors must ensure students are fit for purpose which means the ability to perform effectively in practice, for practice-fulfill registration requirements and award; have the qualification of being awarded a diploma or a degree. As role models, mentors should assist students develop skills and confidence, enhance professionalism and lay an appropriate level of inspection. It is the mentors’ responsibility to be prepared to undertake the role, to share their knowledge with the mentee, to be conversant with the students’ curriculum and practice assessment documentation and identify areas of specialization and learning opportunities. Morton and Palmer add that Mentoring goes beyond the individual relationship between the mentor and the student. It is within this framework of accountability and responsibility for professional standards that is implicit within the individual’s practice and that of the employer. This makes the mentors feel secure in their role of supporting that is implemented at local level (Royal College of Nursing Toolkit 2007, 5-10 and Morton and Palmer, 2000). Outcomes of Mentoring Spouse asserts that the stages of mentoring portray acyclic process or a continuum based on the individual’s development stages as he/she matures into the career or professionalism. Mentoring is part of being a leader, the same way as developing ones leadership abilities. In mentoring, first the mentor and mentee needs to establish an open relationship with each other. Each stage of mentorship is an experience in life that brings new crises and challenges. Having experienced this, one knows what to expect and it is this knowledge that helps others go through the career challenges. The benefits of mentee, mentor and the organization are: quicker learning curves, increased communication of corporate values, increased loyalty, improved employee productivity and improved one on one communication (Spouse, 1996 32-35). People who have worked successfully with mentors receive more promotions, increased outcomes, career satisfaction and increased mobility than those without mentors. Mentees can advance more if multiple mentors are involved Darling LA (1984). Research has revealed that majority of the workers who were mentored proved productive in obtaining competitive awards, leading professional organizations and publishing more books and journal articles. Mentored faculties have a higher job satisfaction. Not only developing credibility for the organization, mentors connect and prepare best persons for career success. Meanwhile, mentoring becomes a disadvantage when mentors attempt to manipulate mentees. That is treating them without dignity and respect. This creates a very low self esteem to the mentees. There is no one right way to mentor; it depends on cultural background of the mentor and mentee, the purpose of mentoring and experience of the mentor with mentoring (Kinnell and Hughes, 2010, 17). Proposed Changes in Evaluation It is becoming more evident that students are being successful in advancing self, organizational and professional goals with mentoring. It is therefore necessary that the terminologies defining mentoring processes be operationalized for people to clearly understand when setting up mentoring programmes. People also require an understanding of the kind of relationship and how it served the mentor, mentee, organization and the profession (Pollard, 2007 315-322). In clinical supervision and project 2000, White demonstrates how unclear it is for mentors to assess students’ competences that are in practice at the end of the semester. The process has attracted several criticisms that have been addressed by the Nursing and midwifery councils. Mentors called sign-off mentors are selected on the criteria of their experience and capability of making judgments that a student is ready to be entered on the professional register as a competent practitioner. The NMC midwifery committee has established that all midwife mentors must have met the criteria to be sign-inn mentors. Mentors must possess the clinical currency and capability in the field of practice that the student is being evaluated. They must have met the NMC requirements to remain at the local register and be supervised in at least three occasions for signing in proficiency. Thy must have a working knowledge of current program requirements and practice assessment strategies. Employers are responsible for maintaining a register of sign-in members and confirm their eligibility for the designation as a sign –off mentor (White, 1996, 102-111) and (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2006 and 2008). In Watson’s The Support that Mentors Receive in the Clinical Setting, the judgment about a student’s competence rests with the mentor for a placement and in the final placement, the sign-off mentor who has the mandate of registering the student as a qualified nurse, midwife or specialist community health nurse. A forum for clinic placement coordinators employed by hospitals to support the pre-registration nursing students before the mentorship program is introduced. It is a mandatory requirement for all students on approved educational institutions to have a mentor. To perform this role, the department of health also maintains that the mentor must have undertaken an approved mentorship preparation program or equivalent, and have met the standards of nursing and midwifery council. They should also have attended and recorded their attendance at an annual mentor update. Nurses and midwives must be registered at least one year before taking this role. These roles have a wide contribution in enhancing the quality of the practice learning experience and development of a well educated and practice competent future nurse (Watson, 2000, 585-592) and (Department Of Health 1999) Wilkes provides other areas of improvement in mentoring which involves updating mentors, supporting them on various areas of concern about students’ performance and assist them to come up with an action plan, with follow-up reviews as required. Auditing procedures as well as orienting students to the learning platform is necessary. Kilgallon and Thompson (2012) Mentors should be taught on how to employ university practice education website in order to maintain an online documentation of the placement area, evaluate the allocation register and review students’ performance. Mentors and students need to be advised on disability issues and receive assistance for developing learning activities for students. A newsletter, handbook or CD-ROM must be developed for guidance. (Wilkes, 2006, 42-47). References Adams, VJ (2002) Consistent Clinical Assignment For Nursing Students Compared To Multiple Placements. Journal of Nursing Education, 41, 2, 80-82 Andrews, M., Wallis, M. (1999), Mentorship in Nursing: A Literature Review. Journal of Advanced Nursing; 29: 1, 201-207. Banning M, Hill Y, Rawlings, S (2006) Student Learning In Care Homes. 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Nursing and Midwifery Council (2006) Standards to Support Learning and Assessment in Practice: NMC Standards for Mentors, Practice Teachers and Teachers. London: NMC. Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008) The Code: Standards Of Conduct, Performance And Ethics For Nurses And Midwives, NMC, London Pellatt, C (2006), The Role of Mentors in Supporting Pre-Registration Nursing Students British Journal Of Nursing, Vol. 15, Iss. 6, 23 Mar 2006, Pp 336 – 340 Pollard, C. Et Al (2007) Clinical Education: A Review of the Literature. Nurse Education in Practice; 7: 5, 315-322. Prince B (2004) Becoming A Good Mentor, Nursing Standard, 19 (13) Prince B (2004) Mentoring: The Key to Clinical Nursing, Nursing Standard, 18(13) Royal College Of Nursing Toolkit (2007) Guidance for Mentors of Nursing Students and Midwives, London, Royal College Of Nursing, P.5-10 Spouse, J. (1996) The Effective Mentor: A Model for Student-Centred Learning. Nursing Times; 92: 13, 32-35. Wallace, B (2003) Practical Issues of Student Assessment, Nursing Standard. 17, 31, 3-36 Watson, S. (2000) The Support That Mentors Receive In The Clinical Setting. Nurse Education Today; 20: 585-592. West, S, Clark and Asper, M (2008) Enabling Learning in Nursing and Midwifery Practice: A Guide for Mentors, John Wiley and Sons P.250 White, E. (1996) Clinical Supervision and Project 2000: The Identification of Some Substantive Issues. NT Research; 1: 2, 102-111. Wilkes, Z. (2006) The Student-Mentor Relationship: A Review of the Literature. Nursing Standard; 20: 37, 42-47. Wright C (1990) An Innovation In A Diplomat Program: The Future Potential Of Mentorship In Nursing. Nursing Education Today. 10.5.355-359 NB: The whole paragraph is an idea of the author of the referred book and not the last sentence. Read More