Examining the Mentor-Student Relationship in Nursing Nursing Essay
Nursing has many different faces. The nursing role entails a variety of responsibilities, including more than nursing patients, all with the same goal of producing whatever might improve the development of nursing, which will eventually benefit patients.
Patients are unaware that nurses must prepare and guide students in order for them to become competent nurses. Student nurses have to go through a three year program to become a nurse, but the academic side of learning is not enough to become a good nurse. A nurse must practice in order to master all of the skills required to provide professional care to patients. The educational nursing process has evolved, and new challenges have been introduced. One of the great challenges in development is the process of mentorship and supervision of nursing students, where the main goal is to guide students through their clinical placement, to make sure that they become the most competent practitioners.
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This is referred to as mentoring. A mentor is a practitioner who helps nursing students learn by supervising and assessing them in their clinical practice area. Preparation for Teachers and Mentors: A New Framework of Guidance, ENB/DH, London (2001). Mentors help to bridge the gap between theory and practice, allowing nursing students to gain a better understanding of their profession. Clinical tutors from nursing universities are available to guide students in clinical practice, but mentoring by a nurse working in the ward of practice has the most advantage because the latest techniques, tools, and protocols are familiar and used on a daily basis. Jarvis (1992) argued that nursing teachers cannot be current with practice if they do not practice. A mentor who is not active cannot provide expert advice on real-life scenarios.
A relationship must be established between the nurse and the student, which should be motivated by the fact that by sharing their knowledge, they are contributing to the overall improvement of the health system by increasing the quality and quantity of more competent newly qualified nurses, who will eventually become their own colleagues. As a result, the more dependable new colleagues are, the more responsibility and workload in the ward can be shared, and managing the ward becomes easier. Managers should be more understanding and accommodating of mentoring in the wards, as time is the most significant impediment to supervising. Time which nurses can dedicate to mentoring is very limited in the wards, as these have to perform their nursing duties as usual.
In the past, there were no mentors, so student nurses had to learn the hard way, often through trial and error, which could have been harmful to the patients. There was no one in charge of guiding the student nurses, who were young, frail, and afraid when they entered this real-life scenario. Due to a staff shortage, student nurses were used as an extra pair of hands, performing tasks that they had not yet mastered. Some were so naive that they even admitted to the patient, “This is the first time I’m doing this procedure,” and the patient, who is already terrified of being in the hospital, has to bear the knowledge that he is being used as a guinea pig. These experiences are no longer shared by patients today. Nursing students are now in hospitals to learn and gain experience under supervision, and they are not given tasks to practice on patients unless a mentor believes the student has acquired the ability to do so. Procedures are explained to the mentee so that they can understand while observing their mentor and later bring any problems or suggestions forward.
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Part of mentoring is being a role model, to be of inspiration to others. A role model does not have to be of the highest rank; it can simply be a qualified nurse who performs a role in such a way that others aspire to be like him/her. According to Gordon (2003), role modeling has a significant impact on how students perform. We are all inspired to become role models, and finding one who meets our expectations provides us with a clear vision of what we want to achieve and become. Students who are highly motivated and have a solid theoretical foundation can learn a lot by observing a good nurse in action. When practical knowledge is visualized, it is easier for students to remember it than when it is thought in the classroom. Only when students are given the opportunity to try out the procedure for themselves under supervision will they realize what they have learned from observing.
Nursing, patients, and managers must all contribute to the production of competent professionals, with all of their complex combinations of knowledge, performance, skills, and attitudes. It is difficult to achieve this level of competence without effective mentoring and knowledge gained through professional education.
Without a doubt, mentors play an important role in our profession; their importance is critical in ensuring the continued success of nursing and making the student feel connected to the placement area. A mentor can serve as an advisor, teacher, role model, and counsellor in a variety of situations. Allowing students to participate in patient care under supervision, while giving them opportunity to experience and practice a variety of skills, will surely result in better quality care delivered to patients.
“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction,” concludes the author. Crosby, C. John (1859-1943). A politician in the United States
