Protege and Mentor Relationship In Nursing Education Who Are Mentor and Protégé?
The traditional concept of a mentor and protégé relationship is an interpersonal process where a seasoned expert (mentor) provides guidance, support, and knowledge to a less experienced individual (protégé). This relationship is multidimensional and considers cultural differences, and can be formal or informal. It evolves over time, adapting to the changing needs and desires of both the mentor and the protégé. A mentor provides emotional support, shares knowledge and experience, acts as a role model, and offers professional and personal guidance to help the protégé develop both professionally and personally (Mijares, Baxley, & Bond, 2013; Stokes, 2010).
Contemporary perspectives have expanded this concept into a more collaborative model that incorporates peer mentoring. Peer mentoring involves a more experienced peer guiding a less experienced colleague, but it also recognizes that even novices have valuable knowledge and experiences to share. This approach fosters mutual support and knowledge exchange, allowing for a more reciprocal relationship where information and expertise can be pooled. Rather than being limited to a traditional mentor-protégé dynamic, these relationships encourage input from multiple sources.
Successful mentoring relationships require institutional support, which includes administrative, collegial, and financial investments (National League for Nursing [NLN], 2006; Nick et al., 2012). Some experts, like Jakubik (2008), have expanded the definition of mentoring to include the organization itself, creating a triad model. In this triad, the mentor helps the protégé acclimate within the organization to achieve specific outcomes, thereby incorporating organizational support into the mentoring process.
Educators as Mentors and Protégés in Nursing Education
The nursing education literature highlights a critical shortage of qualified nurse educators to teach the next generation of nurses (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2014). Mentorship has been identified as a key strategy to recruit and retain new nursing faculty. The NLN (2006) has promoted mentoring as a primary strategy to facilitate the ongoing career development of nursing educators throughout their careers.
Mentoring relationships have the potential to provide new faculty members with guidance, socialization, and role development (Diekelmann, 2004). These relationships are mutually beneficial to both mentors and protégés, offering learning and growth opportunities for all involved. Therefore, mentoring is highly relevant to all members of the academic nursing community, from experienced faculty to those just beginning their careers in education.
Outcomes of Mentoring in Nursing Education
Mentoring in nursing education has been shown to produce several key functional outcomes:
- Orientation to the Faculty Role: Mentoring helps new faculty members understand their responsibilities, roles, and expectations within an academic setting.
- Socialization into the Academic Community: Mentoring facilitates the integration of new faculty into the broader academic community, helping them navigate the culture, norms, and values of the institution.
- Development of Teaching, Research, and Service Skills: Through mentoring, faculty members develop essential skills in teaching, research, and service, which are critical components of their professional roles.
- Facilitation of the Growth of Future Leaders in Nursing and Nursing Education: Mentoring helps identify and cultivate future leaders in nursing education, ensuring a strong pipeline of qualified professionals to guide the next generation (NLN, 2006).
Themes of Mentoring in Nursing Education
Building on these functional outcomes, Nick et al. (2012) identified six major themes of best practices for developing mentoring programs for academic nursing educators:
- Achieving Appropriately Matched Dyads: Carefully matching mentors and protégés based on compatibility, goals, and needs enhances the effectiveness of the mentoring relationship.
- Establishing Clear Mentorship Purpose and Goals: Setting clear, mutually agreed-upon goals and purposes for the mentoring relationship helps ensure both parties are aligned and working toward common objectives.
- Solidifying the Dyad Relationship: Developing a strong, trusting relationship between the mentor and protégé is crucial for the success of the mentoring program. This involves regular communication, feedback, and support.
- Advocating for and Guiding the Protégé: Mentors should actively advocate for their protégés, providing guidance and support to help them navigate the challenges of their roles.
- Integrating the Protégé into the Academic Culture: Mentors play a key role in helping protégés integrate into the academic culture, understand institutional norms, and establish professional networks.
- Mobilizing Institutional Resources: Institutions should provide the necessary resources, such as time, funding, and administrative support, to facilitate effective mentoring relationships.
These themes form the foundation of a model designed to assist faculty in a variety of settings to create and evaluate the effectiveness of mentoring programs.
The Benefits and Challenges of Mentoring
The literature indicates numerous benefits of mentoring, including easing the transition of novice nursing faculty from clinical settings to academic environments (Turnbull, 2010). Mentored faculty members often experience a reduction in role ambiguity and conflict, as well as an increase in professional identity and commitment (Specht, 2013; Gwyn, 2011). Furthermore, institutions benefit from mentoring programs through improved faculty retention rates and increased productivity (Hart, 2009).
Despite these advantages, the transition from clinical practice to academia poses unique challenges. The existing literature on mentoring models has not definitively identified which approach works best or what the experiences of clinical nurses transitioning to academia are. There is a need for further research to explore these experiences and identify the most effective mentoring methods to optimize outcomes.
Mentoring is inherently an abstract concept, shaped by the subjective experiences of both the mentor and the protégé. Thus, more qualitative research is necessary to understand these experiences better and develop best practices for mentoring in nursing education.
The Future of Mentoring in Nursing Education
In the 21st century, nursing education faces the challenge of embracing mentoring as a strategy to facilitate ongoing career development for nursing faculty. Various mentoring models exist, each designed to prepare new educators for the multifaceted roles of an academician. However, more research is needed to determine which approaches are most effective and to understand the experiences of clinical nurses transitioning into academic roles.
To recruit and retain clinical nurses for educational roles, future research should focus on identifying the most effective mentoring methods, exploring the experiences of clinical nurses, and optimizing outcomes for both mentors and protégés. Qualitative research will be particularly valuable in capturing the nuanced, subjective experiences that characterize mentoring relationships.
By investing in mentorship programs and fostering a culture of support, nursing education can continue to grow and adapt to meet the needs of a dynamic and evolving healthcare landscape. This will help ensure that the next generation of nurses is well-prepared to meet the challenges of the profession and continue to provide high-quality care to diverse patient populations.
Conclusion
Mentoring is a dynamic and evolving process that is critical to the success of nursing education. Whether through traditional mentor-protégé relationships or more contemporary peer-mentoring models, mentoring provides valuable support, guidance, and professional development opportunities for both mentors and protégés. By fostering a culture of mentorship and investing in effective mentoring programs, academic institutions can enhance faculty retention, support the growth of future leaders, and ensure that nursing education continues to thrive in the face of ongoing challenges.