The Good Mentoring Toolkit for Healthcare

Helen Bayley, Ruth Chambers, Caroline Donovan

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781138443389
• eBook ISBN: 9781315358406
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Medical Theory, Practice & Reference

This book examines how nurses will provide a first-point-of-contact consultation service as an alternative to going to see the doctor. It analyses the different nurse practitioner models around the world and presents a proposal for the UK, using research material to describe the impact of this kind of nurse practitioner on patients, doctors and other nurses. The book proposes practical steps through which this model can be implemented within Primary Care Groups, and considers the professional implications for doctors and nurses. Among the conclusions reached in the book are: * nurse practitioners are acceptable to both colleagues and patients * they will have an increasing impact on the nature of the work of doctors * the role of general practitioners may develop to complement the emerging role for nurses. The book is relevant and important reading for everyone who will be affected by these developments, including nurses, doctors, health service managers and policy makers.

1

What is mentoring?

An organisation which offers structured mentorship is an organisation with more fulfilled, committed, resourceful and motivated employees, who will stay within that organisation.

Cunningham¹

Mentoring in healthcare settings

Mentoring has existed for thousands of years in a variety of cultures. The word ‘mentor’ originates from Greek mythology and the story of Odysseus, who, when setting off on his journey to Troy, entrusted his friend Mentor with the care and education of his son Telemachus. Legend has it that Odysseus instructed Mentor to ‘Tell him all that you know’, unwittingly setting the standard for aspiring mentors.

Mentoring is a transformational process that seeks to help individuals develop and use knowledge to improve themselves on an ongoing basis. It is a professional dialogue that encourages reflection and development, signposting mentees to other sources of help as required.

A review of mentoring in relation to general medical practice described mentoring as ‘a way of helping another understand more fully, and learn comprehensively from, their day to day experience’.² An enquiry into mentoring commissioned by the Department of Health defined mentoring as a ‘process whereby an experienced, highly regarded, empathic person (the mentor), guides another individual (the mentee) in the development and re-examination of their own ideas, learning, and personal and professional development. The mentor, who often, but not necessarily works in the same organisation or field as the mentee, achieves this by listening and talking in confidence to the mentee.’³ This definition was derived from work relating to medical, dental and other healthcare professions and general management.

Another definition of mentoring by Carmin, derived in an organisational context rather than applying specifically to a health setting, considered mentoring to be a ‘complex, interactive process occurring between individuals of differing levels of experience and expertise which incorporates interpersonal or psychosocial development, and socialisation functions into the relationship. This one-to-one relationship is itself developmental and proceeds through a series of stages which help to determine both the conditions affecting, and the outcomes of, the process. To the extent that the parameters of mutuality and compatibility exist in the relationship, the potential outcomes of respect, professionalism, collegiality and role fulfilment will result. Further, the mentoring process occurs in a dynamic relationship within a given milieu.’⁴

Box 1.1: What is mentoring? Other general definitions

‘Helping another person become what that person aspires to’⁵

‘Mentoring is a powerful form of management learning, in which an experienced individual passes on know-how to someone less experienced’⁶

‘The mentor represents knowledge, reflection, insight, understanding, good advice, determination and planning, qualities that cannot be mastered alone’⁷

‘Off-line help by one person to another in making significant transitions, in knowledge, working or thinking’¹

The definitions of mentoring from the health setting^2,3,5 that we have included so far are similar to those describing the process in organisations as a whole.^4,6,7 But in nursing and midwifery the term ‘mentor’ can be used specifically to denote the role of the nurse, midwife or health visitor who facilitates learning and supervises and assesses students in the practice setting – as given in Box 1.2.^8,9,10 We will be using the general definitions of mentoring and mentor throughout this toolkit, rather than employing any terminology specific to one professional group.

Box 1.2: Role of mentor from student nurse’s perspective^8,9,10

(i) Supporter: give nurse advice, sort out problems or worries, be there as ally or friend

(ii) Guide and teacher: explain things, organise and arrange visits, be role model, feedback on performance to nurse

(iii) Supervisor: share problems, talk about mistakes and uncertainties, enable nurse to work out own solutions, allow gradual independence

(iv) Assessor: good understanding of assessment process and outcomes, implement assessment procedures

What’s in it for you?

With increasing pressures on everyone’s working day in the NHS, it is vital to find new ways of coping and thriving at work. Mentoring supports professionals’ growth in knowledge, skills, attributes and practice.

If you have a mentor, your mentoring relationship will provide you with the confidential opportunity to share your feelings, express your views, test out ideas and raise questions. It will allow you to take a step back and look at yourself, as a manager, as a leader, as a health professional or team player and most importantly at you as a person.

You will be asking yourself soul-searching questions: Where are you at in your career? Where do you want to be? How can you get there? Who can help you to get there? If you are happy where you are, you will be considering:

• What makes you feel fulfilled at work?

• What aspects of your practice would you like to capitalise on?

• What aspects of your work or practice would you like to develop?

• How can you maintain job satisfaction over time?

How can you expect to lead others efficiently if you are unable to accept your own strengths and weaknesses? How can you expect to lead others efficiently if you are feeling burnt out yourself? How can you expect to lead others efficiently if you do not allow yourself time out to look at how you do things and why you do them that way?

If you are a mentor, you will benefit from gaining more insights into how you work and act, as you challenge the thinking and perceptions of your mentee(s). You will gain considerable self-satisfaction too from helping others, which will probably boost your own job satisfaction and make you more aware of your work environment.

How does mentoring fit with the NHS agenda?

The NHS Plan (2000) requires a fundamental change in thinking, practice and the delivery of healthcare over the next decade.¹¹ The Plan’s ambitious agenda is challenging. We know that managers and health and social care professionals can meet these challenges to improve services by learning from each other and basing their decisions on evidence from research literature and evaluation when possible.

The NHS Plan supports continuing professional development (CPD) to deliver patient-focused healthcare. In addition, the Department of Health’s Working Together – Learning Together document¹² emphasises that lifelong learning and development are key to delivering the government’s vision of patient/client-focused care within the NHS.

Another Department of Health document, Managing for Excellence in the NHS,¹³ indicates that we need to build on good relationships in the NHS and with our partner organisations to create a more participative and open culture where everyone can contribute. This culture needs to be creative, challenging and supportive to the workforce. It needs to embrace modern ways of working through teams and networks rather than through hierarchies and formal systems. It needs to recognise the complexity of the healthcare environment and the work that we do.

In addition, we must lead change as well as manage it. We need leadership in setting out the vision and working with and through people to achieve it. The NHS is made up of many different staff groups and supported by many different organisations. There are strong profess...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• About the authors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: What is mentoring?
• Chapter 2: Making the most of mentoring
• Chapter 3: Developing your competence as a mentor with good communication and development skills
• Chapter 4: Developing your competence as a mentor in enabling others to perform well and improve their delivery of healthcare
• Chapter 5: Demonstrating your competence as a mentor
• Chapter 6: Helping the mentee to reach their potential
• Chapter 7: Documentation
• Further reading
• Index