The CRANAplus LINKS Mentoring Program connects mentors and mentees from around Australia. It focuses on encouraging career development and building capabilities in clinical leadership, decision- making, networking, and resilience during placements and recently gained employment.
However, the LINKS online learning modules can also be used as a professional development tool to create a mentor program in your workplace, just as Janelle Stephens has done.
Janelle is responsible for the transition to practice program at Mersey Community Hospital in North West Tasmania.
She says, “Each year I have grads who struggle with their transition, and I am always looking for ways to help them.”
“I had been thinking about a mentor program, and the course I completed with CRANAplus inspired me to put it into place.”
Janelle developed the Minder Project to address the need for new graduate nurses to have a mentor or confidant with whom they can ask questions, discuss concerns or open up about problems they may be facing. It is a strategy to aid in decreasing stress and anxiety during early practice.
She says, “Transition to practice nurses have NUMs and ANUMs, educators, facilitators and preceptors, but may not have the confidence or have developed a trusted relationship with these peers to be able to comfortably disclose concerns or seek advice. This program aims to match an experienced and junior nurse, with a common interest or goal, to be able to develop and grow a professional relationship based on trust, confidentiality and career progression.”
Experienced nurses in the hospital can complete a questionnaire, with the results helping pair them with a new graduate. Prior to commencing, minders are also asked to complete the CRANAplus LINKS mentoring module, and, once complete, are paired with a mindee.
Minders and mindees are encouraged to meet for coffee once or twice a month, and Janelle has received sponsorship from the Mersey Hospital volunteer auxiliary to fund coffee vouchers for these meetings. The pair will develop a mentoring plan that details goals and communications methods, and mentors will be a listening ear, reflecting on their own career journey and providing encouragement and advice.
The program is mutually beneficial, with mindees gaining a trusted professional to confide in, an ease of transition into the workplace and a chance to grow their professional network, and minders being able to accrue CPD points and develop skills for education and leadership roles.
Within the program’s first year, Janelle has matched nine minders and mindees, and has seen some great success stories.
She says, “I have enlisted a physiotherapist to be a minder for a new grad – this new grad has a Chinese background and was struggling with communication, so I enlisted a Chinese physiotherapist working in Australia to be his minder and the benefits have been amazing.”
“Another success has been a new graduate RN who was navigating stress and anxiety and required leave for mental health reasons. Her pairing with a minder was written into her return to work plan.”
Janelle is hoping to roll the program out to the North West Regional Hospital soon and expand the scope of participants to other healthcare professionals and different levels of nursing.
She says, “Thank you CRANAplus for your amazing online course – it has had a significant impact on ensuring we maintain a high standard of mentoring in the program.”
