Seamless and committed collaboration as an essential factor in effective mentorship for nursing students: conceptions of Finnish and British mentors.

BACKGROUND: The effective mentorship of nursing students requires that mentors have a range of personal qualities. However, it is also essential to consider the role of other participants, such as colleagues in placement settings and educators in educational institutions, as well as the relationship with students. OBJECTIVE: This aim of this study was to describe Finnish and British mentors' (n=39) conceptions of the factors that affect the provision of effective mentorship for pre-registration nursing students in healthcare placements. DESIGN AND METHODS: The data in this qualitative study were collected by focus group interviews and analysed using a phenomenographical approach. RESULTS: The findings highlighted the factors governing seamless and committed collaboration with all stakeholders involved in student mentorship. Mentors considered that their own advantageous attitude, capabilities and competence, supportive co-operation with colleagues and lecturers, and enthusiasm and active participation of students were all significant factors determining the effectiveness of student mentorship. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing organisations and educational units need to develop a well-defined and robust partnership strategy for student mentorship, which would clarify the roles of all stakeholders. This would help to ensure the availability and quality of students' placement learning and mentorship, and develop the joint preparation programmes for student mentorship.

Finnish and British mentors' conceptions of facilitating nursing students' placement learning and professional development.

Pre-registration nursing students require varying levels of support during placement learning. Although they receive support from different stakeholders, the support provided by mentors is considered the most significant. Several challenges are encountered in the facilitation of students in placements, particularly in relation to mentors' roles in support and assessment. This phenomenographical study examines the conceptions of Finnish and British mentors regarding the facilitation of placement learning and professional development of pre-registration nursing students. The findings identified four main categories of description, which grouped the different ways mentors experienced the facilitation of students. Firstly, students should be the focus and respected as individual partners with personal learning goals. Secondly, placements must be fit for students' practice and learning. Thirdly, facilitation was seen as guided co-working and spurring to enable a student to attain stipulated nursing competencies. Finally, ongoing assessment of students' achievements, learning outcomes and professional attributes was viewed as significant. This study highlights the importance of human and pedagogical approaches in the facilitation of students' placement learning and professional development. Hence, mentors are required to have effective communication and evaluation skills, and should therefore be supported through mandatory mentor preparation programmes and updates developed in national and cross-cultural co-operation.

Building organizational capacity for effective mentorship of pre-registration nursing students during placement learning: Finnish and British mentors' conceptions.

Health-care organizations have a key role in improving the quality of student mentorship in placements. This study presents the findings of Finnish and British mentors' conceptions of how to build organizational capacity for the provision of effective mentorship for pre-registration nursing students during placement learning. The data obtained from nine semistructured focus group interviews were analyzed using a phenomenographic approach. Three categories of description are presented. Organizations were mainly perceived as optimizers of investments in developing clear strategies for the provision of sufficient resources and professional support for mentors. The creation of a positive mentorship culture within a development-oriented, student-centred and goal-directive atmosphere was seen as essential. Furthermore, providing well-prepared placements for clinical practice of students was emerged as crucial, which included adequate working conditions and stakeholders as well as arrangements of learning opportunities. It is concluded that effective student mentorship requires health-care organizations to invest in financial and human resources in order to promote the quality of the placement learning environments. Such provision will enhance students' recruitment, retention and effectiveness, leading to safe practice and cost-benefits for health-care organizations in the longer term.

A systematic review of mentoring nursing students in clinical placements.

AIM AND OBJECTIVE: This systematic review describes mentoring of nursing students in clinical placements. BACKGROUND: Mentoring in nursing has been widely investigated, but mentoring among students has remained vague. There is no universal agreement on student mentoring in nursing placements; therefore, mentoring approaches vary. A unified description of student mentoring is needed to ensure the quality of placement learning in nursing organisations. DESIGN: Systematic review. METHOD: The data were collected from nursing research articles over 20 years (1986-2006). The articles (n = 23) were analysed using inductive content analysis. RESULTS: Mentoring of nursing students in clinical placements was described according to two themes: (1) facilitating nursing students' learning by creating supportive learning environments and enabling students' individual learning processes, (2) strengthening students' professionalism by empowering the development of their professional attributes and identities and enhancing attainment of students' professional competence in nursing. DISCUSSION: This description of student mentoring in nursing clinical placements integrates environmental, collegial, pedagogical and clinical attributes. To ensure effective student mentoring, an individual mutual relationship is important, but also essential is organisation and management to provide adequate resources and systematic preparation for mentors. CONCLUSIONS: The description of student mentoring needs to be systematically reviewed to reflect changes in nursing and education and compared within related concepts to achieve and maintain a workable description. A clear and systematic strategy for student mentoring in nursing organisations could be one opportunity to enhance recruitment of nursing students to the workforce. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: A unified description of student mentoring will help improve the quality of placement learning opportunities and support for students, also for exchange students. A clear description of student mentoring enables the development of systematic provisions for mentoring of nursing students in placements and adequate mentor preparation programmes for nurses.