Exploring mentoring and nurse faculty: An integrative review

Improved professional competencies and leadership in PhD-prepared nurses and doctoral students after participating in the cross-national and web-based Nurse-Lead program

BACKGROUND

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)-prepared nurses are expected to exercise leadership in their various roles. Therefore, European nurse scholars developed a cross-national web-based Nursing Leadership and Mentoring Educational (Nurse-Lead) program.

PURPOSE

To evaluate changes in leadership practices, professional and research competencies as well as career development of PhD-prepared nurses and doctoral nursing students after participation in the Nurse-Lead program.

METHODS

A pre-post-test evaluation was conducted. Surveys addressed leadership, professional and research competencies, and career development. Quantitative data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and paired sample t-tests. Content analysis was used for qualitative data.

DISCUSSION

The 30 participants showed significant improvements in all leadership practices, professional competencies, and most research competencies. Participants reported increased confidence in decision-making, taking on new responsibilities, and becoming more visible within research teams.

CONCLUSION

Web-based, international leadership and mentoring programs are promising tools for the leadership and professional development of PhD-prepared nurses and doctoral nursing students.

Trends, Future Directions, and Questions for Preparing Successful Nurse Faculty

BACKGROUND

Many nurse educators enter the faculty role with little academic teaching experience. Although there is evidence that providing clear expectations and targeted training on teaching and learning is beneficial for new faculty members, inconsistencies and content gaps in orientation programs and prerequisite knowledge for nurse educators still pose challenges to faculty success.

METHOD

This article reviews the current state of preparation for nurse educators, describes new knowledge and skills nurse educators need to prepare nursing students for practice, and suggests approaches to continuous growth and professional development.

RESULTS

In addition to knowledge of foundational teaching concepts, nurse educators need advanced knowledge of technology, global health, and climate change. Today's learners are diverse and require equity-focused teaching and pedagogy responsive to individual learner characteristics and backgrounds.

CONCLUSION

Ensuring nurse educators are prepared to deliver a high-quality education program requires up-to-date professional development, a comprehensive orientation, and ongoing faculty support. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(12):661-667.].

Strategies for transitioning from a clinical position to a faculty role

The nation faces a continued shortage of nurses that is projected to worsen in the next decade. The nursing shortage is fueled by a lack of faculty to educate nurses for entry into practice and advanced nursing practice positions. Many faculty enter academia after achieving expertise in a specialty area of clinical practice. These expert clinicians transition to novice faculty, a move that can be challenging and overwhelming. New faculty require guidance in understanding the various academic regulatory organizations; university structure, policies, and regulations; faculty responsibilities related to the university missions of teaching, service, practice, and scholarship; and face challenges with the need for new skills such as classroom management, curriculum development, and an understanding of the different culture and language of academia. The authors provide evidence from the literature and strategies and tips based on their experience for an expert clinician's successful transition from a clinical role to an academic position.

External Scholarship Mentors for DNP-Prepared Faculty: A Practice-Oriented Exemplar

BACKGROUND

Variability surrounding what practice scholarship should entail and how to incorporate into academic life exists among DNP-prepared faculty teaching across nursing programs.

PROBLEM

DNP-prepared faculty entering an academic role are expected to maintain a clinical practice, teach/advise students, and fulfill service obligations, often leaving minimal time to build a program of scholarship.

APPROACH

Building upon the archetype of external mentors for PhD researchers, we introduce a new model for external mentorship for DNP-prepared faculty to facilitate scholarship.

OUTCOMES

In the first dyad to use this model, the mentor-mentee met/exceeded all contractual goals, including presentations, manuscripts, leadership behaviors, and role navigation within higher education. More external dyads are currently in development.

CONCLUSIONS

Securing an external, seasoned mentor as a match for a junior member of the faculty in a yearlong partnership demonstrates promise for positive change in the scholarship trajectory of DNP-prepared faculty in higher education.

The Global Leadership Mentoring Community: An evaluation of its impact on nursing leadership

AIM

To evaluate a year-long mentorship program, pairing nurses from different regions across the world to support their global leadership capability, and identifying additional consequences of their participation.

BACKGROUND

Investment in developing nurse leaders continues as a strategic global imperative. Building on the first cohort's recommendations, this second program illustrates continued progress.

PROGRAM EVALUATION

Using the logic model of program evaluation, this non-empirical paper uses data collected from anonymized questionnaires and participants' stories to help improve the program, illustrating innovative practices to develop the confidence and competence of emerging and established nurse leaders globally.

DISCUSSION

The value of mentorship was recognized, and there were gains for both mentors and mentees in the development of leadership confidence and competence. Through engagement and collaboration with the whole community, participants were encouraged to understand their own and others' cultures avoiding assumptions and stereotypes.

CONCLUSION

This evaluation illustrates that in addition to helping improve future programs, mentorship has enabled the growth of individuals' skill sets and the confidence to reach out to peers across the world to understand the meaning of global health and to make a meaningful contribution to the challenges they face.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

Nurse managers should be encouraged to develop and formalize a mentoring culture to benefit the leadership competence and well-being of their workforce.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING POLICY

Every nurse has a responsibility to invest in nursing leadership for themselves and others. Mentorship can assist nurse leaders to build workforce capability to lead and contribute to the policy agenda locally, nationally, and internationally. Starting early and at the individual level, global mentorship programs can develop leadership expertise to help nurses find their voice and strengthen their confidence and competence to lead and therefore build the strategic leaders of the future.

Faculty-to-faculty incivility in nursing academia: A qualitative systematic review

BACKGROUND

There is limited research evidence to show that faculty-to-faculty incivility exists in nursing academia.

PURPOSE

This systematic literature review aimed to synthesize the current qualitative evidence on experiences of incivility between faculty colleagues.

METHODS

A meta-aggregation approach was applied according to guidelines established by the Joanna Briggs Institute. Studies published from inception to January 31, 2022 were searched from the databases including PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, Web of Science, SCOPUS, ERIC, PQDT, Ebook Central, and ProQuest Central Korea.

RESULTS

Thirteen qualitative studies were included, resulting in the following six synthesized findings: (1) incivility tactics, (2) nursing academic environment that enabled incivility, (3) individual characteristics that aggravated incivility, (4) reactions to incivility, (5) coping strategies, and (6) impacts of incivility.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the synthesized findings listed above, this study offers the following four recommendations: (1) the academic culture should be improved, (2) institutional policies and procedures should be prepared, (3) faculty members should be educated on respectful communication skills, and (4) better mentoring programs should be provided to newcomers and novice faculty members. As all relevant studies were conducted in Western countries, it is important for future research to focus on issues pertaining to faculty-to-faculty incivility in Eastern culture.

REGISTRATION

PROSPERO CRD42022321261.

The experiences of doctorally prepared nurses and doctoral nursing students with being mentored in the Nurse-Lead programme: A focus group study

AIM

to explore experiences of being mentored and the contribution of the mentoring to leadership and professional development of doctorally prepared nurses and doctoral nursing students participating in the Nurse-Lead programme.

BACKGROUND

Mentoring is considered important for career development of academic nurses. Doctorally prepared nurses need a wide range of professional competences to develop sustainable careers. Therefore, they may benefit from a larger network of mentors, outside their own organization, to support their professional development. Therefore, a web-based leadership and mentoring programme was developed - the Nurse Lead programme.

DESIGN

A descriptive study with semi-structured focus groups.

METHOD

Three focus groups were conducted during an on-site programme meeting in 2019 with twenty-one doctorally prepared nurses and doctoral nursing students. The interview guide included questions about mentoring relationships and meaning of mentoring for leadership and professional development. The interviews were thematically analysed.

RESULTS

Five themes were identified: "Preferred characteristics of mentors", "Developing trusting relationships", "Engagement of the mentors", "Becoming a proficient researcher and team leader" and "Becoming an empowered and confident professional".

CONCLUSION

Mentoring supported the leadership and professional development of doctorally prepared nurses and doctoral nursing students. Participants were engaged in rewarding mentoring trajectories. The results indicate that a similar approach could be followed when developing mentoring programmes in the future.

Relationship of Organizational Support, Psychological Capital, and Engagement Among Clinical Nursing Teachers

BACKGROUND

Clinical nursing teachers play a critical role in nursing education, and their engagement is important to ensure the quality of clinical teaching.

PURPOSE

To describe the level of engagement and determine the relationships among organizational support, psychological capital, and engagement among clinical nursing teachers.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 246 clinical nursing teachers, from 4 teaching hospitals in China, using a self-report questionnaire. The questionnaire measured organizational support, psychological capital, and work engagement.

RESULTS

Clinical nursing teachers reported a medium level of engagement in teaching. Both organizational support and psychological capital had positive effects on teachers' engagement. Psychological capital partially mediated the relationship between organizational support and engagement.

CONCLUSIONS

Measures to improve organizational support and psychological capital are essential to enhance the engagement among clinical nursing teachers.

Effectiveness of clinical mentorship program for students of long-term aged care: A mixed-methods study

BACKGROUND

Internationally, the population is rapidly aging with a strong demand for aged care services. In Taiwan, both recruiting and retaining staff to aged care poses difficulties. Good clinical role models can positively impact students' confidence and professional development and influence their willingness to enter the long-term aged care workforce.

OBJECTIVES

To clarify clinical mentors' roles and competencies and assess the effectiveness of a mentorship program for improving students' professional commitment and self-efficacy in long-term aged care.

DESIGN

A mixed-methods study with a quasi-experimental research design and qualitative interviews.

SETTINGS

Purposive sampling was used to recruit long-term aged care professional clinical mentors with preceptor qualifications and nursing and aged care students enrolled in a two-year technical program in a Taiwanese university's gerontology care department.

PARTICIPANTS

Fourteen mentors and 48 students participated. The student control group received regular education; the experimental group received mentorship guidance.

METHODS

This study included three phases. Phase one involved qualitative interviews to identify clinical mentors' roles and competencies. Phase two involved expert panel meetings to establish the clinical mentorship program's content and implementation. Phase three involved the program's evaluation. Quantitative questionnaires were administered before the program and subsequently at 6, 12, and 18 months to assess mentors' effectiveness and students' professional commitment and self-efficacy in long-term aged care. Qualitative focus groups solicited participants' feelings and suggestions for the program.

RESULTS

Clinical mentors' roles and competencies centered on two themes: professional role model and establishing good rapport. Quantitative analysis showed that mentoring effectiveness initially recorded a decline, followed by a subsequent increase. Both groups' professional self-efficacy and commitment followed an increasing trend. While the experimental group's professional commitment score was significantly higher than the control groups, their professional self-efficacy scores did not differ significantly.

CONCLUSIONS

The clinical mentorship program improved students' long-term aged care professional commitment and self-efficacy.

A Mentoring Workgroup for Academic Role Transition Among Clinical-Track Nursing Faculty

BACKGROUND

With the current ongoing nurse faculty shortage, mentorship can aid in career advancement, promotion, and retention for clinical assistant professors (CAPs) when hiring clinical-track faculty.

METHOD

The organization, experiences, and outcomes of a CAP mentorship workgroup within a multi-campus research-intensive college of nursing are described.

RESULTS

The CAP mentorship workgroup was guided by senior faculty and met monthly to provide CAPs with a better understanding of the promotion process, motivation to pursue scholarship, and peer support. Through this workgroup, seven CAPs have completed their probationary review process, two CAPs are in the process of being promoted to clinical associate professors, and more than 90% of CAPs have been retained.

CONCLUSION

Mentorship for clinical-track faculty can positively influence faculty productivity and aid in CAP retention, which contributes to the success of nursing programs. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(3):183-186.].

Mentoring novice nurse educators: Goals, principles, models, and key practices

Nurses who transition from clinical practice to nursing education practice is often had trouble and experience transition shock. Academic nurse leaders (ANLs) should proactively address the transition concerns of novice nurse educators (NNEs) to reduce dissatisfaction and turnover rates. NNEs can be eased into their new roles through mentoring activities and programs. ANLs or senior nurse educators mentor the NNEs in the many different aspects of academia. This paper discusses the goals, principles, models, and key practices in mentoring NNEs. ANLs should intentionally design mentoring programs that enhance the sense of efficacy, competence, and satisfaction of the NNEs in their new role. Mentoring programs for NNEs can use several models to achieve these desired outcomes. The integration of key practices could improve outcomes achievement. Ensuring that schools of nursing have adequate numbers of qualified nurse educators is essential in addressing the nursing shortage.

Demystifying the National Institutes of Health diversity supplement: Mentee and mentor experiences and recommendations

BACKGROUND

The National Institutes of Health supports professional development of diverse researchers through diversity supplements. Limited awareness and understanding of the application process have hindered utilization of this funding mechanism.

PURPOSE

We describe perspectives and recommendations of mentee and mentor recipients of diversity supplements.

METHODS

Our working group, comprised of faculty from an Historically Black College and University and an R1 research university, conducted stakeholder interviews with three mentees and four mentors from various institutions. We used content analysis to derive categories of experiences and recommendations.

DISCUSSION

Interviewees reported on advantages of diversity supplements, ensuring institutional support, identifying a good mentee-mentor match, developing grantsmanship specific to diversity supplements, and increasing numbers of these applications.

CONCLUSION

We identify opportunities for stakeholders to increase awareness of diversity supplements. Our data support greater understanding of this mechanism, establishing strong mentoring relationships, and submitting robust applications. Findings can enhance diversity among the scientific community.

The Current Status of Research Mentoring in Nursing Across 4 Countries: A Discussion Paper

The purpose of this article is to discuss the current status of research mentoring in nursing across 4 countries (the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan) and to make suggestions for future research mentoring. Seven leaders reflected on the current status of research mentoring in nursing, provided exemplars/cases from their own experiences, and their reviews of the literature. Six themes were discussed: (a) "culturally defined"; (b) "professionally contextualized"; (c) "teaching research integrity and research practice"; (d) "with mutual respect and care"; (e) "based on effective communication"; and (f) "supported by institutional and governmental commitment and infrastructure."