Mentoring Program for New Graduate Nurses

Practice Problem: The high turnover rate among newly licensed nurses has a negative impact on organizational costs, healthcare spending and patient outcomes. The turnover rate among newly licensed nurses, within their first year of practice, at the designated facility was 50%. PICOT: The PICOT question that guided this project was “In new graduate nurses, how does a formal mentorship program, compared to no formal mentorship, affect the intent to leave within six weeks?” Evidence: The scientific evidence supported both one-on-one and group mentoring. Retention and/or turnover was shown to be a positive outcome of formal mentor programs. Intervention: The intervention, aimed at reducing burnout among new graduate nurses, was a formal one-on-one mentoring program that included intentional mentor selection, matchmaking, and mentor training. Outcome: The data demonstrated the intervention of participating in a formal mentorship, as a mentor for six weeks to newly licensed nurses, had a positive impact on the mentors, their job satisfaction, and their intention to continue working on the unit. The data demonstrated the intervention of being mentored, by an experienced nurse on the unit, positively impacted the newly licensed nurses’ intention to continue working on the unit and also demonstrated the mentorship program was recommended by all mentors, and mentees, and that the mentors had an impact on the decision of the mentees to stay or leave. Conclusion: The program altered the working environment of newly licensed nurses and further supported the existing literature regarding formal mentoring programs. The formal mentorship program impacted the problem of high turnover among newly licensed registered nurses positively