Mentoring of New Graduates

[klhigg2]

Mentoring is something that we don't often see in nursing, especailly in the hospital I currently working in. Many of my new graduate nurses are looking for some type of "mentor" for when they finish with their orientation.

There is a group of nurses working on this project for the units and are very interested to hear what other hospitals may have.

What type of mentoring programs, formal, informal or if any, do you have?

Thanks for any replies that you may send

[PennyLane, RN]

I worked as a tech in an ICU while in school, and was offered a job there after graduation (which I turned down). They have a 6 month orientation that combines classroom and unit time, paired with a preceptor. Then after orientation, the new nurses are given an assignment next to a mentor. The mentor is an experienced nurse who is the new nurse's first resource for questions and assistance. The mentor looks out for the new nurse during the shift. I'm not sure how long this lasts, but it really is a wonderful thing for the new nurses.

[Nurse Hatchett]

I work in LTC and not a hospital, but we have mentor programs, we get paid 0.25 more and hr, and when our nurses graduate they work our schedule and we train them. We just started this last year, but it seemed helpful to the graduate nurses :) They also have classroom time, not sure how long. It was nice for us to because every day we wasn't meeting someone new, and going over things we had already gone over or asking "Has so and so shown you this yet?" Not sure how they picked who is mentors, think they went by experience and work ethic.. Hope this helps

[llg, PhD, RN]

The children's hospital in which I work has a formal mentor program. After orientation (which varies from 10-20 weeks, depending upon the unit), the new grad is given a mentor for as long as he/she would like one -- usually another 3-9 months. The mentor is paid $200 per month and meets regularly (though informally) to help the new grad with career issues. Much of the relationship is social, some is counseling -- but it is not supposed to emphasize formal teaching and not supposed to include supervision/evaluation. The mentor is to be a friend and supporter, not an evaluator or judge.

llg