Characteristics of mentoring in nursing faculty

The increasing complexity of today's nursing coupled with the growing need for higher numbers of expertly trained nursing staff requires faculty members who are prepared to handle this challenge. Mentoring has been noted as a successful tool for advancing careers, fulfilling role expectations, and providing resources for guidance. With a nursing shortage threatening and a bulge in the population of baby boomers beginning to retire, nurses are in high demand. The purpose of this study was to examine the concept of mentoring in nursing, determine if nursing faculty have been mentored and to ascertain the characteristics of mentoring reported by nursing faculty.The population for the study was nursing faculty from three mid-western schools of nursing. A convenience sample of all nursing faculty who agreed to participate was used. The participants were given a demographic tool and Darling's Measuring Mentoring Potential (MMP) Scale to complete. The MMP consisted of fourteen items that described the most significant characteristics of mentors.The pool consisted of 52 faculty with a response rate of 84.6% (n=44). All of the faculty that completed the questionnaire were mentored. The majority of respondents (n=43) were female ranging in age from 40-59 (84.1%). Fifty percent were Master's prepared nurses and 41% held doctoral degrees. The respondents reported the three highest characteristics of mentoring as Model, Envisioner, and Energizer which is consistent with Darling's research as denoting a significant mentoring relationship.The findings revealed that nursing faculty have been mentored and that these mentoring relationships were significant as defined by Darling. Due to proposedupcoming shortages in nursing staff and nursing faculty, this study was significant to provide data about the mentoring relationship. Nurse administrators can use information about mentoring to structure formal mentoring programs to facilitate transition into faculty roles. The implication of this study is that mentoring can be used to promote growth in new faculty members and provide schools of nursing with adequately prepared new faculty as more experienced professors retire.School of NursingThesis (M.S.