Mentor Us: A Formal Mentoring Program for Nurses in Graduate Education

Abstract

Graduate education fosters unique skills including advanced communication, complex problem solving, project management experience and a complex understanding of specific fields of work (Edge & Munro, 2015). In Canada, enrolment in full-time graduate studies in nursing are increasing. As these enrollments increase, the academic community must consider the realities of graduate school, how students are socialized into faculties and most importantly how integration and community in these programs are fostered because these factors impact the graduate school experience and completion outcomes. Successful graduate students tend to have strong peer relationships, more positive integration, and personal connections with their department or faculty (Gansemer-Topf, Ross, & Johnson, 2006; Golde, 1998; Golde, 2000; Tamburri, 2013). Mentorship programs foster these close relationships among members, help to strengthen a sense of personal and professional safety, provide academic and professional support, and promote collegial interactions (Garvey & Westlander, 2013). In early 2013, four master of nursing (MN) students at a large western Canadian university began to conceptualize a formal mentorship program for nursing graduate students called Mentor Us, with the intent of improving student collegiality, building connections within the faculty and community, and providing opportunities for peers to connect. They envisioned and developed a voluntary mentorship program that offered the opportunity for peer-to-peer mentorship in dyads consisting of one mentor and one mentee. The program has seen success in achieving many of its aims and goals; however, the leadership team has also identified areas for future improvement including engaging specific student populations, improving mentor training initiatives and dyad matching, and sustaining the leadership structure of the program. The aims of the paper are first, to outline the current state of nursing graduate education in Canada. Second, to present the process of building and maintaining a formal mentorship program for nurses in graduate studies. Third, to describe the vision of the program moving forward, to outline lessons learned during the development and operation of the program, and to review strategies to ensure future program success. This paper provides a unique way to mitigate the concerns of nursing graduate students by fostering peer mentorship relationships and enhancing community connections. It provides a concrete example of the development of such a program and presents an honest critique about how to improve the program for future students.