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The nursing profession is currently in dire need of qualified professionals to staff hospitals, clinics and doctors offices. Since there is such a nursing shortage right now, nurse mentors can play a critical role in ensuring that tomorrow’s nursing workforce is properly prepared and supported to stick with this crucial profession for the long haul. A nurse mentor can provide the leadership and experience to allow new and inexperienced nurses to move into the field with superior skills and confidence.
Burnout Leads To The Loss Of Nurses
Since the profession of nursing is not an easy one, many of the people that enter the field can become burned out after just a short amount of time. The position has a lot of stress involved, and it can take a toll on the nurses that perform their daily duties for the sick. Since this can all add up after a time, nurses can burn out and may retire or quit. That is why it is so important that more people enter the nursing field, and it is also important that they have good mentors that can lead them through the medical field to work to their fullest extent.
Retirements Compound Nursing Shortage Problem
Many of the nurses that are practiced in the field have done so for many years. They are dedicated to their choice of employment, and when they are able to retire they do so. When this happens, it can result in a shortage of nurses unless more people fill their spaces. During a nurse’s education and when they enter the workforce, a mentor can make a huge difference in them being able to complete the job they are hired for, making it more likely they won’t leave the profession prematurely due to burnout or frustration.
Nursing Mentors Create Cohesion
Nursing mentors are really helpful for the new nurses that come into the workforce. Since they are practiced in their craft, they are able to teach others how to become professionals at what they do. Nursing mentors are considered very viable, and they receive a lot of acclaim for their efforts. When they help others to carry on with their exceptional duties, they are rewarded in compensation and personal confidence in their abilities.
When there is a shortage of nurses, the whole community can suffer. There won’t be enough help to take care of the sick, and in cases of emergencies, it can result in a disaster. Effective nurse mentors can make a big difference in the professional lives of nurses, which in turn has a big impact on attracting new nurses to the field and improving retention rates.
About the Guest Author
Patricia Meeks is a retired nurse who has mentored scores of novice nurses over the 35 year span of her professional career. Besides a quality education, which she writes about at Nursing School Rankings, Patricia believes that positive mentoring can reverse the nation’s nursing shortage.