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STAFFING
BY BRITA BELLI
Mentorship keeps newer nurses from scrubbing out
S
tarting a new job can be stressful
for anyone, but nursing comes
with a particular set of pressures.
A 2024 survey of 6,000 nurses
from the American Nurses Association
(ANA), in partnership with McKinsey and
Company, found that an astonishing
45% of early-tenure nurses reported
they were somewhat likely to leave their
roles in the next 6 months.
" Nurses are caring
for human beings, "
says Cheryl Peterson,
MSN, RN, senior vice
president of nursing
programs at ANA. " The
room for error is really
small, and that's really
scary. "
Cheryl
Peterson,
MSN, RN
Working in the OR
can amplify the pressure, and not just
because of the high stakes. With widespread
lack of viable, cost-effective
pathways into perioperative services,
a young nurse's first exposure to this
inherently stressful environment is often
not in school, but on the job.
However, aspiring perioperative
nurses have reason for optimism, as
do their counterparts pursuing other
specialties. Whatever direction a
nurse's career takes, the survey results
show that a good mentor can
make the difference between staying
or calling it quits. Opportunities for
expanding and investing in mentorship
are becoming more diverse, ranging
from new technology to advancing legislation.
To
whatever extent healthcare organizations
take advantage of these
opportunities, the benefits of expanding
mentorship are clear. " You don't always
know what you're going to encounter
early on as a nurse, " says Adriane K.
Griffen, MPH, DrPH, who oversees the
ANA's programmatic portfolio. " Sometimes,
you're eased into it. Other times,
you're thrown into the deep end. Early
-tenure nurses are looking for more
stability. "
www.ormanager.com
Building stronger teams
More than 80% of new nurses indicated
in the ANA survey that they consider
mid- and most-tenured nurses to be
" great resources to learn from. "
Focused on generational differences
and similarities, the survey found that
mentoring both improved work conditions
and helped support career goals
of millennial nurse mentees. Notably,
the survey also showed benefits for
the mentors. More experienced nurses
reported becoming energized and hopeful
when supporting their younger colleagues-provided
there are the necessary
institutional support structures in
place.
" One of the strengths
of the current nursing
workforce is that we
have multiple generations
working shoulder
to shoulder, " Griffen
says. " Nurses want to
learn from experienced
colleagues. And older
nurses feel energized
could find their own care philosophy. "
In addition to connecting nurses
across generations, mentorship can
help bolster a more diverse workforce
that is better equipped to meet
the needs of specific patient populations.
This was the driving force behind
the ANA's Minority Fellowship
Program, which provides federal grants
to increase the numbers of PhD-ready
nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists,
social workers, and therapists from underrepresented
minority groups. Mentorship
is one of many tools employed
to nurture individuals who have the interest
and potential to pursue these
careers.
Adriane K.
Griffen, MPH,
DrPH
and fulfilled by mentorship-they enjoy
teaching. It's a high stress environment-anything
we can do to build joy in
work and enliven the work environment
is key. "
The ANA survey found that more than
75% of both mid-tenure and most-tenured
nurses enjoyed working with less
experienced peers-that it made them
feel hopeful, and respected.
Another study from 2024 looking at
Millennial nurses found that the most
meaningful attributes of successful
mentors were not professional accomplishments,
but interpersonal skills
such as understanding, empathy, and
open communication. The study authors
write: " They learned through their
mentors by using them as milestones,
found the meaningfulness of nursing,
and felt proud of their nursing jobs.
Through this process, the participants
felt that they could comprehend the
essence of nursing anew and that they
Peterson, who leads the program at
the ANA, says fellows who participate
as mentees in the virtual program often
later support it as mentors. " As they
move into alumni, they want to support
it as mentors because they know the
benefit they received, " she says. " It's
fulfilling to be in that relationship. "
Cultivating new leaders
In addition to smoothing the transition
into the profession, nurse mentors play
a key role in helping their early-career
peers advance in leadership-a key
concern for perioperative services.
One example of nurse leader mentoring
in action comes courtesy of
the Organization of Nurse Leaders in
New Jersey (ONL NJ). The organization
first instituted a mentorship program
in 2010, and is now approaching its
eighth cohort. Each cohort begins with
an educational seminar on goals, objectives
and best practices, and ends with
a networking session in which potential
mentors and mentees can indicate with
whom they would like to work. This isn't
so much about helping to acclimate
nurses to the profession, but
rather
helps to guide those who are new to
leadership roles.
Since the program was instituted,
ONL NJ has completed a number of
related research studies, and the findOR
Manager | Mar/Apr 2025 29
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