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The nurse as mentor
THE BACK PAGE
The Nurse as Mentor Jan Odom, MS, RN, CPAN, FAAN Mentor—“A person who gives another person help and advice over a period of time and often also teaches them how to do their job.”1
I WAS IN THE ATLANTA airport not long ago. To transfer from one concourse to another, I had to use the escalator to go down to the underground train system. If you’ve never been there, the escalators are very steep and very long. At the top of the escalator was a small child approximately 4 years old who was very frightened and crying, “I’m too scared, Mommy! I’m too scared!” As I looked down the escalator, I saw his mother frantically trying to climb back up the escalator as it was taking her down and farther away. I looked at the little boy, held out my hand, and said, “Here, take my hand and let’s do this together.” He immediately took my hand and together we went down the escalator. When we got to the bottom, as his mother was thanking me, he looked up at me with his big eyes and said, “You saved my life!” Well, I don’t know about that, but together we accomplished something that he had trouble doing on his own. Jane Rothrock, in a lecture about why we are not “just a nurse,” stated that she participated in a survey once in which 76.9% of over 1,200 nurses surveyed thought that nurses “ate our young.”2 What a shame. There are many complex reasons for the shortage of nurses today. We know that less young people are choosing nursing as a career, that physician verbal abuse can be a factor, and lack of independent practice and flexibility in the hospital is a cause. But we are also losing young nurses out of the profession at a faster rate than ever before.2 Could attitude toward our new nurses be a reason? Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, Vol 18, No 2 (April), 2003: pp 143-144
When we talk about “new” nurses, it doesn’t just have to mean young nurses fresh out of nursing school. It could describe a person who has chosen nursing as a second career, and is older in age. It might also describe a nurse who has become competent in one specialty and chooses to move to a new specialty. A nurse in all of these examples needs a mentor—someone to give help and advice. This mentor not only can help the new nurse with clinical skills, but with socialization into the group. The PACU at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, MS, uses a mentoring process for nurses who come to work in the unit. New orientees are each assigned an experienced nurse who has attended a preceptor workshop, and they work the same schedule as their preceptor. The preceptor takes the new nurse under his/her wing and begins with the basics. Each orientation process is tailored to the needs of the orientee. For an experienced ICU nurse who needs to learn the postanesthesia basics, the orientation may last 4 weeks. For an experienced medical surgical nurse who has to learn telemetry and critical care, the process is much longer. On occasion, we have hired a newly graduated nurse and that orientation is a 6-month process.
The ideas and opinions expressed in this editorial are those solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ASPAN, the Journal, or the Publisher. Jan Odom, MS, RN, CPAN, FAAN, is the Director for Surgical Services at Forrest General Hospital, Hattiesburg, MS. Address correspondence to Jan Odom, MS, RN, CPAN, FAAN, 105 Shadow Ridge Rd, Hattiesburg, MS 39402; e-mail address: [email protected]. © 2003 by American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. 1089-9472/03/1802-0013$35.00/0 doi:10.1053/jpan.2003.50035 143
JAN ODOM
144
One thing that we have discovered over time is that the preceptor and orientee are bound together for the long term. A great example of a continuing relationship occurred at the first preceptor workshop offered. Two of the PACU nurses, one who had precepted the other, were present. At that point, the newer nurse was ready to have a relationship as a preceptor herself. My son had a preceptor in the Emergency Department when he graduated from nursing school last May. His preceptor, Bo, told me that Andrew was assigned to the chest pain area not long after he finished orientation and was in a code situation. Bo kept trying to go and see how Andrew was doing, but the charge nurse kept him away by telling him that Andrew was doing fine and needed to do it on his own. I think Bo was biting his fingernails until the situation was over—and it was because of the bond he felt with Andrew as a new nurse. Now the relationship can evolve into a collaborative practice model. How exciting! Those of us who have been nurses for a long time also need mentors. I have had a progression of mentors over the years, and all have contributed vastly to my professional and personal life. When I was a 24-year-old fledgling
nurse in Louisville, KY, a nursing supervisor saw potential, took me under her wing, and gave me a position as Head Nurse of an Intensive Care Nursery. I learned many basic skills of management from her. Later, in Hattiesburg, the Director of Surgical Services supported me as a clinical specialist, president of ASPAN, and writer. A colleague who was president of another nursing organization at the same time I was president of ASPAN has been my mentor both professionally and personally. Other colleagues have mentored me as I learned to write. At the present time, my current boss, the Vice President of Patient Care Services, is a strong mentor in my new position as Director of Surgical Services. I would not be where I am without the mentors I have mentioned and others I have not. The derivation of “mentor” is from Homer—no, not Simpson—Homer the writer! Mentor was the trusted friend of Odysseus who assigned Mentor to “the care and education” of his beloved son, Telemachus. Mentor taught Telemachus all he needed to know to succeed Ulysses as King of Ithaca. He learned patience, courage, modesty, and simplicity.3 Do we owe our nurses any less?
References 1. Cambridge International Dictionary of English. Available at http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key⫽mentor*1⫹0. Accessed February 27, 2003 2. Rothrock J: Never say you are “just a nurse.” Kentucky
AORN Seminar, Jewish Hospital, Louisville, KY, February 22, 2003 3. Parada C: Mentor 4. Available at http://homepage.mac. com/cparada/GML/mentor4.html.Accessed March 10, 2003
The Nurse as Mentor Jan Odom, MS, RN, CPAN, FAAN Mentor—“A person who gives another person help and advice over a period of time and often also teaches them how to do their job.”1
I WAS IN THE ATLANTA airport not long ago. To transfer from one concourse to another, I had to use the escalator to go down to the underground train system. If you’ve never been there, the escalators are very steep and very long. At the top of the escalator was a small child approximately 4 years old who was very frightened and crying, “I’m too scared, Mommy! I’m too scared!” As I looked down the escalator, I saw his mother frantically trying to climb back up the escalator as it was taking her down and farther away. I looked at the little boy, held out my hand, and said, “Here, take my hand and let’s do this together.” He immediately took my hand and together we went down the escalator. When we got to the bottom, as his mother was thanking me, he looked up at me with his big eyes and said, “You saved my life!” Well, I don’t know about that, but together we accomplished something that he had trouble doing on his own. Jane Rothrock, in a lecture about why we are not “just a nurse,” stated that she participated in a survey once in which 76.9% of over 1,200 nurses surveyed thought that nurses “ate our young.”2 What a shame. There are many complex reasons for the shortage of nurses today. We know that less young people are choosing nursing as a career, that physician verbal abuse can be a factor, and lack of independent practice and flexibility in the hospital is a cause. But we are also losing young nurses out of the profession at a faster rate than ever before.2 Could attitude toward our new nurses be a reason? Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, Vol 18, No 2 (April), 2003: pp 143-144
When we talk about “new” nurses, it doesn’t just have to mean young nurses fresh out of nursing school. It could describe a person who has chosen nursing as a second career, and is older in age. It might also describe a nurse who has become competent in one specialty and chooses to move to a new specialty. A nurse in all of these examples needs a mentor—someone to give help and advice. This mentor not only can help the new nurse with clinical skills, but with socialization into the group. The PACU at Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, MS, uses a mentoring process for nurses who come to work in the unit. New orientees are each assigned an experienced nurse who has attended a preceptor workshop, and they work the same schedule as their preceptor. The preceptor takes the new nurse under his/her wing and begins with the basics. Each orientation process is tailored to the needs of the orientee. For an experienced ICU nurse who needs to learn the postanesthesia basics, the orientation may last 4 weeks. For an experienced medical surgical nurse who has to learn telemetry and critical care, the process is much longer. On occasion, we have hired a newly graduated nurse and that orientation is a 6-month process.
The ideas and opinions expressed in this editorial are those solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of ASPAN, the Journal, or the Publisher. Jan Odom, MS, RN, CPAN, FAAN, is the Director for Surgical Services at Forrest General Hospital, Hattiesburg, MS. Address correspondence to Jan Odom, MS, RN, CPAN, FAAN, 105 Shadow Ridge Rd, Hattiesburg, MS 39402; e-mail address: [email protected]. © 2003 by American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses. 1089-9472/03/1802-0013$35.00/0 doi:10.1053/jpan.2003.50035 143
JAN ODOM
144
One thing that we have discovered over time is that the preceptor and orientee are bound together for the long term. A great example of a continuing relationship occurred at the first preceptor workshop offered. Two of the PACU nurses, one who had precepted the other, were present. At that point, the newer nurse was ready to have a relationship as a preceptor herself. My son had a preceptor in the Emergency Department when he graduated from nursing school last May. His preceptor, Bo, told me that Andrew was assigned to the chest pain area not long after he finished orientation and was in a code situation. Bo kept trying to go and see how Andrew was doing, but the charge nurse kept him away by telling him that Andrew was doing fine and needed to do it on his own. I think Bo was biting his fingernails until the situation was over—and it was because of the bond he felt with Andrew as a new nurse. Now the relationship can evolve into a collaborative practice model. How exciting! Those of us who have been nurses for a long time also need mentors. I have had a progression of mentors over the years, and all have contributed vastly to my professional and personal life. When I was a 24-year-old fledgling
nurse in Louisville, KY, a nursing supervisor saw potential, took me under her wing, and gave me a position as Head Nurse of an Intensive Care Nursery. I learned many basic skills of management from her. Later, in Hattiesburg, the Director of Surgical Services supported me as a clinical specialist, president of ASPAN, and writer. A colleague who was president of another nursing organization at the same time I was president of ASPAN has been my mentor both professionally and personally. Other colleagues have mentored me as I learned to write. At the present time, my current boss, the Vice President of Patient Care Services, is a strong mentor in my new position as Director of Surgical Services. I would not be where I am without the mentors I have mentioned and others I have not. The derivation of “mentor” is from Homer—no, not Simpson—Homer the writer! Mentor was the trusted friend of Odysseus who assigned Mentor to “the care and education” of his beloved son, Telemachus. Mentor taught Telemachus all he needed to know to succeed Ulysses as King of Ithaca. He learned patience, courage, modesty, and simplicity.3 Do we owe our nurses any less?
References 1. Cambridge International Dictionary of English. Available at http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key⫽mentor*1⫹0. Accessed February 27, 2003 2. Rothrock J: Never say you are “just a nurse.” Kentucky
AORN Seminar, Jewish Hospital, Louisville, KY, February 22, 2003 3. Parada C: Mentor 4. Available at http://homepage.mac. com/cparada/GML/mentor4.html.Accessed March 10, 2003