The practicum success rate will be due to well calculated prior planning in order to tackle the nurse shortage and promote health care. Mentoring, which is a perfect strategy in bettering the process of retention and recruitment of nurses will ensure transition and socialization from the normal clinical setting (McDermid, 2012, p. 37). Subsequently, the good effects will create and establish job satisfaction or enhanced commitment.
Articulating the mentorship program into practice will entail data collection by observation of the mentor-mentee and vice versa to foster learning conditions (Crookes, 2003, p. 50). In addition, surveys and document reviews will provide prior knowledge for mentorship. The practicum results shall provide a platform for ascertaining the outcomes by evaluating measures after and before implementation. This is by evaluating the competence and the level of change in the mentee over the given time period which the program is being administered. Examining the subjects and program for statistical implication will translate the theoretical evidence into a more realistic and practical experience. Finally, considering the insights emanating from observing the progress will aid in ascertaining the outcomes.
Mentees will conduct self-assessments in order to spot potential or already weak areas so that they can be in a position to start their learning process with their mentors. The valuable mentee skills evaluated through review or observation will be used to provide feedback. The practicum will integrate the preliminary role course or the socialization phase, which is very crucial and offer unremitting support for the needs of individualized skills and knowledge. The learning needs to be dealt with shall be: processes and policies regarding student advising, guidance on the role of educator, clinical activities and policies, classroom skills including material development or management, testing such as NCLEX preparation.
The stages in mentoring relationship to be used shall be: initiation which will be the first, cultivation the second, separation the third, and finally redefinition. During the first stage known as initiation, a connection shall be forged making the mentee and mentor an entity. The second stage, also called cultivation phase will facilitate trust between the mentor-mentee and portrays mutuality, commitment, and also sharing information. The relationship goals are attained at this stage and it calls for working together in harmony. The final stage separation shall entail the relationship end. However, collegiality or friendship can be the transformation of the relationship (Gwyn, 2011, p. 19).
Specifically, the implementation of the practicum will include the learning and training of skills; this will be though individual consultations and also workshops to train and impart skills. Peer mentoring will be highly prioritized and will be achieved through group discussions and writing groups. This is closely related to focus group discussions and paramount in enhancing the interpersonal skills. There will be creation of newsletters and blogs to showcase the presented faculty members’ work (Chung, 2012 p. 33).
The leadership and extra activities to be undertaken in order to achieve the learning objectives will include: interesting program of mentorship, recognition and a sense of achievement in the program, good interpersonal relations, a hands off approach of mentoring so as to make it feel more voluntary and acceptable, benefits and monetary incentives in order to reward them.
The transition to a new workplace is not easy as past researches have already shown. An example being the accomplished changes from Clarke (2013) shows that mentorship undergoes many transitional phases. The study proved that the participants having mentors are in a better place for survival and success that those without mentors. The job performance was also negatively affected because of psychological impassiveness from work. The change I would propose would be to make it a policy and mandatory to have a formal mentorship in all institutions so that adaptation and assimilation in the organization can be easy for everyone and also to improve the performance.
The learning goals for this practicum includes: to assess the clear evidence backing up the efficacy of this sort of the mentoring plan in tackling issues regarding retention and recruitment. The second objective is to foster leadership and competence through mentorship and finally the third objective is to effectively quantify the outcome of the mentoring on retention, recruitment, and satisfaction of the job through measures like post-implementation and baseline (Heinrich, 2012, p. 12).
The 216 hours of doing the intensive practicum are also well planned for so as to achieve maximum desired results in the required time frame. The mentoring should be five days a week for about three hours, making it sixty official hours a month. This will take about four months in order to completely finish the practicum and for it to have started giving the results. The extended time frame will help in the building of relationships and bonding to strengthen the mutuality and help in the sharing between the mentee and mentor and vice versa (Gwyn, 2011, p. 44).
References:
Chung, C.E., & Kowalski, S. (2012). Job stress, mentoring, psychological empowerment, and job satisfaction among nursing faculty. Journal of Nursing Education, 51 (7), 381- 388. doi:10.3928/01484834-20120509-03.
Clark, C.L. (2013). A mixed-method study on the socialization process in clinical nursing faculty. Nursing Education Perspectives, 34 (2), 106-110. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23763024
Crookes, G. (2003). A practicum in TESOL: Professional development through teaching practice. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Gwyn, P.G. (2011). The quality of mentoring relationships’ impact on the occupational commitment of nursing faculty.Journal of Professional Nursing, 27(5), 292-298. doi:10.1016/j.profnurs.2011.03.008.
Heinrich, K.T., & Oberleitner, M.G. (2012). How a faculty group’s peer mentoring of each other’s scholarship can enhance retention and recruitment. Journal of Professional Nursing, 28 (1), 5-12. doi:10.1016/j.profnurs.2011.06.002.
McDermid, F., Peters, K., Jackson, D., & Daly, J. (2012). Factors contributing to the shortage of nurse faculty: A review of the literature. Nurse Education Today, 32 (1), 565-569. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2012.01.011.
