A Guide for Developing a Culture of Caring Through Nursing Peer Mentorship Programs

Book excerpt: This book describes in detail how to develop successful programs of nursing mentorship, utilizing concepts of caring that yields a strong, caring body of nurses who will be "nurse thrivers" as they find fulfilment and meaning in their professional commitment and will train others to do the same. The mentorship program is the ticket to success that many students need to complete their degree program, prevent burnout, pass the nursing NCLEX examination, and remain in the workforce after graduation. The current attrition rate in baccalaureate nursing programs is 25-50%, as is the attrition rate in the first 2 years of employment of new RN's entering the workforce. Burnout is due to a lack of care and support for helping the students navigate the rigor and demands of the nursing program. Creating a community of learners with caring and support creates an environment that fosters academic engagement and success. The unique aspect of this book is its focus on creating a caring environment to support the students; helping them develop caring skills, empathy, resilience and their own self-care; developing the skills for success beyond their educational process into the workforce. This book integrates all patterns of knowing - personal, aesthetic, empiric and ethical - and provides the missing link of peer mentorship necessary to the development of resilient, emancipated nursing students and graduates capable of working in community with others to establish cultures of care in health care. This is a must have resource for transformation of nursing education in the next century! Foreword by Dr. Margaret McClure.