Mentoring Mentor and Protege Relationship
Who are Mentor and Protege
The traditional concept of mentoring is described as an interpersonal process between a seasoned expert and a novice protege. The relationship is multidimensional. accounts for cultural differences, and can be either formal or informal. It evolves over time according to the needs and desires of the mentor and protege. The mentor provides emotional support, shares knowledge and experience, acts as a role model, and gives professional and personal guidance for the protégé ( Mijares , Baxley, & Bond, 2013; Stokes, 2010).
Contemporary perspectives have expanded the concept of mentoring into a more collaborative model that uses peer mentoring. Peer mentoring has been described as a more experienced peer showing the ropes to a less-experienced colleague. Peer mentoring gives recognition to the fact that even novices have valuable knowledge and experiences to share. It encourages them to participate in peer mentoring relationships where information and expertise can be pooled and mutual support is received.
These reciprocal relationships allow for input from a number of sources rather than the traditional interaction between mentor and protege.Successful mentoring requires institutional support through administrative, collegial, and financial investments (National League for Nursing INLN], 2006 Nick et al., 2012). Jakubik (2008) went so far as to include the organization in the definition of mentoring, making it a triad. The triad consists of a mentor who acclimates a protege within an organization to attain specific outcomes
Educators Mentor and Protege In Nursing Education
The literature clearly documents that there are not enough qualified nurse educators to provide education to the next generation of nurses (American Association of Colleges of Nursing JAACNJ, 2014). Mentorship has been identified as an influential factor to recruit and retain new nursing faculty. The NLN (2006) advocated mentoring as a primary strategy to facilitate the ongoing career development of nursing educators across the career continuum.
Mentoring relationships have the potential to offer guidance, socialization, and role development of new faculty ( Diekelmann , 2004). The literature suggests that mentoring is mutually beneficial to both mentor and protege. Therefore, mentoring is a topic that is relevant to all members of the academic nursing community.
Outcomes of Mentoring In Nursing Education
Four functional outcomes of mentoring in nursing education have been identified as: (a) orientation to faculty role
(b) socialization to the academic community
(c) development of teaching, research, and service skills
(d) facilitation of the growth of future leaders in nursing and nursing education (NIN 2006).
Themes of Mentoring In Nursing Education
Using these four outcomes as the foundation, Nick et al. (2012) identified six major themes of best practices from the literature to develop a model for excellence in establishing mentoring programs for academic nursing educators. The major themes are:
(a) achieve appropriately matched dyads
(b) establish clear mentorship purpose and goals
(c) solidify the dyad relationship
(d) advocate for and guide the protege
(e) integrate the protege into the academic culture
(f) mobilize institutional resources. The model is designed to assist faculty in a variety of settings to create and evaluate the effectiveness of mentoring programs.
The literature indicates that mentoring has many benefits and positive outcomes such as easing the transition of novice nursing faculty from clinical into the academic environment (Turnbull, 2010). Mentored experience faculty a decrease in the degree of role ambiguity and role conflict ( Specht , 2013) Increased professional identity and a more committed professorial are added benefits (Gwyn, 2011). Not surprisingly, institutions have benefited from sponsoring faculty mentoring programs by experiencing improved retention rates and increased productivity in the workplace (Hart, 2009).
Nursing education in the 21st century has been challenged to embrace mentoring as a strategy to facilitate the ongoing career development of nursing faculty. The literature provides discussion of various mentoring models to prepare neophyte educators to understand the multifaceted roles of an academician. However, little is known about what approach works best and what are the experiences of clinical nurses transitioning to academia.
To recruit and retain clinical nurses for the education arena, further research is necessary to explore their experience. Future research should focus on the most effective mentoring methods to optimize outcomes. Because mentoring is an abstract concept of the subjective experience of both mentor and protégé, more qualitative research is needed.
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