| Description |
The purpose of this study was to determine if registered staff nurses have mentors that assist in the development of their careers. A descriptive study was conducted to determine if staff nurses could identify the existence of a mentor in their career and to identify (a) benefits of a mentor relationship, (b) who serves as a mentor to the nurses, (c) the characteristics of a good mentor, (d) the relationship between educational preparation of the nurse and presence of a mentor, (e) length of mentor relationships, (f) initiation and termination of the mentor relationship, (g) characteristics of being a mentor, and (h) the benefits of serving as a mentor. The major findings revealed that: (a) staff nurses do have mentors, and (b) mentors do contribute to the career development of nurses. A third finding revealed that not only do nurses benefit from have mentors, they benefit from being mentors, as well. Other findings revealed that characteristics of a good mentor identified from this study are confirmed in the literature and educational preparation of the nurse is not related to the presence of a mentor relationship in the career of registered staff nurse. |
