Does a mentoring program offered in hospitals for newly hired nurses help retention

Does a mentoring program offered in hospitals for newly hired nurses help retention Health care providers are certain about the shortage of nurses though comprehensive data and are lacking to show extent of the current shortage. There is a growing demand for nurses with skills to treat patients with multifaceted care needs. Also, shortages can affect the quality of care. The shortage is expected to worsen as the aging population increases demand and less people enter the nursing profession (Scanlon, 2001).
Mentor is defined as a trusted counselor or guide, willing to offer his or her occupation to the progression of the profession. In the nursing process, a mentor endorses the values and standards of the hospital organization. As a mentor he or she demonstrates and promotes lifelong learning and is able to reveal tremendous communication and critical thinking skills. Further a mentor is trusted and appreciated as a leader in his or her organization for honesty and integrity. The mentor looks after and is compassionate to the needs of others and support freedom, maturity, and professional growth (Barton et al., 2005).
At all stages of human life, nurses provide the care that attaches medical treatment with patients daily lives. Frequently working at top speed for 10- or 12-hour shifts, they make vital decisions and handle emotional situations. Various Nursing Institutions brings nurses up to that high performance level through a mentoring program that teaches them how to apply their skills on the nursing profession. The mentoring program helps new nurses make the changeover from classroom to the patient’s bedside. This teaches them to take responsibilities with confidence in a protected environment of working along with their mentor (University of Virginia, 2003).
The Center for Health Workforce Planning of Iowa conducted an aggressive application method for three groups of projects targeting recruitment and retention of nurses and nursing assistive personnel. The groups were: demonstration projects to identify best practice strategies for successful recruitment and retention; mentor programs to ease employee retention; and personnel motivation incentive packages. The demonstration plans and mentoring programs submitted the final reports that acknowledged best practices. The Center’s Advisory Committee recommended the continuation of the demonstration plans for complete evaluation, replications and communication of the best practices (Towers, 2004).
Workplace mentoring, and on-line resources will help nurses in improving their skills. Working with Nursing organizations, nursing schools/colleges and nurse employers helps in learning lots of skills from different senior nurses and Retired nurses which they might have acquired from their practical experiences during their tenure which is not available theoretically (Nursing Agenda, N. D.).
There are plenty of examples to show that the mentoring program helps retention of new nurses and reduce vacancies. Benedictine Hospital Kingston, NY created The Transition to Practice program to retain new nurses. This mentoring course focuses on developing new nurses and supports a joint control model, letting nurses to have more control over their work and patient care. This program is planned to help new nurses to set up a strong base with the hospital from the beginning, and the program proved to be successful. Consequently, nurse vacancy rates decreased from 15 percent in 2001 to 9 percent in 2003 because of retention of new nurses. Another example is the Genesis Medical Center; Davenport, IA has developed a Clinical Mentor Program as a main concern for recruitment and retention of nurses. This approach helped new nurses to develop their skills and form an attachment to the organization as they changeover to practice (American Hospital Association, 2003).
Many employers are trying to improve the benefits they offer to nurses to support recruitment and retention efforts because of the shortage nursing staffs. Observers noted that nurses’ liking for benefits vary with age; younger nurses are typically interested in wages and career opportunities, while older RNs care more about benefits and retirement plans.
Improved benefits packages, and higher wages, can help in recruiting and retaining qualified nurses to an extent but the overall satisfaction of nurses, and their ability to provide high-quality care, depends on developing holistic move towards to improving the work environments. Though fringe benefits play a role in this holistic approach, they should not be the sole focus of human resource managers (Spetz and Adems, 2005). Hence it can be said that a good mentorship programme can help retention of nurses in the hospitals.
References
American Hospital Association, (2003) Ideas in Action: Improve the workplace partnership. Retrieved December 20, 2006, from http://www. healthcareworkforce. org/healthcareworkforce_app/jsp/celist. jsp? programfocus= 8
Barton, D. S., Gowdy, M and Hawthorne, B. W. (2005) Mentorship programs for novice nurses. Nurse Leader, Vol 3, Issue 4, August 2005, Pp 41-44.
Nursing Agenda, (N. D.). Nursing Agenda – Section 1 – Workforce. Retrieved December 20, 2006, from http://www. mphi. org/files/section1. pdf
Scanlon, W. J. (2001) NURSING WORKFORCE: Recruitment and Retention of Nurses and Nurse Aides Is a Growing Concern. In: Testimony before the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, U. S. Senate. GAO-01-750T. Retrieved December 20, 2006, from http://www. gao. gov/new. items/d01750t. pdf
Spetz, J. and Adems, S (2005) How can employment- based benefits: Help the nursing shortage. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Retrieved December 21, 2006, from http://www. rwjf. org/files/research/ImprovingNursing_090605. pdf
Towers, K. (2004) Nursing and Nursing Assistive Personnel Recruitment and Retention. Replicating Best Strategies Across Iowa. Center for Health Workforce Planning. Iowa Department of Public Health. Retrieved December 20, 2006, from http://www. idph. state. ia. us/hpcdp/common/pdf/workforce/replication_report. pdf
University of Virginia, (2003) U. VA Nurse Mentoring Program Ensures High Quality Patient Care. Public Relations, University of Virginia Health System. Retrieved December 21, 2006, from http://www. healthsystem. virginia. edu/internet/news/archives00/nurse_mentoring. cfm