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Staffing
5 steps to creating an in-house nurse mentorship program
Although regional, national, and virtual nurse mentorship programs
can be valuable resources, hospitals and health organizations can
also benefit from setting up their own. With an in-house program,
mentors and mentees have a shared experience, common resources,
and greater opportunity for in-person meetings. Here are five evidence-informed
steps for setting up a new program:
❶ Establish a task force with both experienced nurse leaders and
new graduates to establish the details, which include:
➤ a plan for the mentor-mentee matching system
➤ program length and curriculum
➤ benchmarks for measuring progress
➤ reporting process and followup items.
❷ Set program goals reflecting outcomes that will benefit the organization
and participants. These might include:
➤ reduced turnover
➤ identifying potential nurse leaders
➤ improved patient outcomes
➤ added skillsets and experience.
❸ Create a system for matching. Successful mentorship programs
rely on mutually beneficial matches between mentor and mentee.
ings are clear: Mentorship opportunities
pairing staff nurses with nurse managers,
supervisors, directors, and chief
nursing officers provide mentees with a
valuable professional sounding board,
help them to develop confidence, and
give them courage to take professional
steps-or reject offers that are not a fit.
" Whether nurses are
looking for advancement,
leadership opportunities,
conflict resolution,
or financial advice,
mentorship really
breaks down competition
and barriers and
levels the playing field, "
says Susan Cholewka,
MBA, executive director of ONL NJ.
Cornelia Gilpin, DNP, NEA-BC, CCSS,
who has served as a mentor in ONL
NJ's program, says newer nurse leaders
can benefit from navigating chalSusan
Cholewka,
MBA
30
OR
Manager | Mar/Apr 2025
Factors to consider include:
➤ career level
➤ specialty
➤ professional challenges.
❹ Launch the program. As the mentors and mentees begin working
toward their goals, they should collect data related to their progress
and milestones. Nurse leadership, meanwhile, should provide
opportunities for feedback to assess the success of the pairings.
❺ Measure the program's success. Pulling together the collected
data from the first program, nurse leaders can determine where
the program is working and where they need to improve. Areas to
measure can include:
➤ extent of nurse call-outs
➤ level of mentor-mentee participation
➤ educational course attendance
➤ adverse event rates among patient populations.
Reference
Cortney M, Wagenberg C, Loney E, et al. Creating and Implementing
a Nurse Mentoring Program: A Team Approach. The
Journal of Nursing Administration. June 2020.
lenges and making
career decisions with
advice from someone
they trust. " Speaking
to someone who is at
a different stage in her
career helps you narrow
the scope, " she says.
" There's that flight of
ideas-lots I want to accomplish.
A mentor is
Cornelia
Gilpin, DNP,
NEA-BC,
CCSS
like a 'sage on the side' to help you to
refocus. "
An online toolkit available for purchase
brings the benefits of ONL NJ's
year-long mentorship program to a
broader population (the guide is free
for members). " We copyrighted some
of the best practices, " says Mary Rich,
BSN, MSN, DNP, adjunct nursing faculty
at the College of St. Elizabeth in
New Jersey. " It's a really succinct and
comprehensive guide for the mentor
and mentee to navigate
that relationship. " The
toolkit helps them to
set expectations, and
provides benchmarks
for meeting short-term
goals and a sense of
how they are progressing,
she adds. And due
to the success of the program, Rich
says they have presented nationally,
including at the American Association of
Colleges of Nursing conference.
Mary Rich,
MSN, DNP
Bridging OR knowledge gaps
Lack of perioperative content in standard
education curricula is a well-documented
challenge in recruiting and acclimating
new nurses to the field. As long
as nursing programs provide limited or
no exposure, preceptors will be critical
to easing the transition from academia
to the OR.
www.ormanager.com
https://journals.lww.com/jonajournal/Abstract/2020/06000/Creating_and_Implementing_a_Nurse_Mentoring.9.aspx http://www.ormanager.com
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