Having a nursing mentor can provide valuable guidance and support, helping novice nurses develop their clinical skills and adapt to the demands of the healthcare environment. Additionally, mentorship can help foster professional growth, enhancing confidence and job satisfaction while ensuring quality patient care.1
Here are a few benefits of a nursing mentor relationship:
1. Accelerated Learning: There are few shortcuts in nursing, but having a nursing mentor may help save headaches and sleepless nights worrying if you changed a bandage properly or started that IV correctly. A nurse mentor may be available to provide timely answers to your questions and offer prompt feedback on patient care. A mentor may also be able to better demonstrate crucial nursing skills than a YouTube video can, and for experienced nurses, mentorship may allow them to revisit nursing skills that have become routine and habit over time.
2. Career Guidance: Another opportunity for mentorship in nursing is when you apply for your first nursing job. A nurse mentor can help you identify what nursing skills you excel at and what nursing specialties you might enjoy the most. They can help identify future opportunities in nursing and help you decide on the best path to achieve those goals.
3. Emotional Support: Nurse mentors may also play a crucial role in providing emotional support. Nursing can be an emotional career, and it’s not until you experience it yourself that you know what to expect and how to cope. Speaking with a nurse mentor ahead of time may help prepare you for some of the unexpected challenges you may face while also building your confidence as a new nurse.
4. Networking: There is no rule saying you can only have one mentor. Networking can help you find and expand your group of mentors. According to Harvard Business Review, networking can also increase your job opportunities, enhance your knowledge and improve job satisfaction.2 According to a survey by Zippia, 85% of job opportunities come from your personal or professional network.3
But networking doesn’t always come easy. Some people are natural networkers, but for others, networking may need to be a more intentional process. Finding a nurse mentor may require additional legwork beyond attending nursing school clinicals. It requires patience, persistence and routine follow-up to find the right mentor who can help to guide you in achieving your nursing goals.
