Building Professional Capacity: Mentoring for Graduate Registered Nurses

This paper discusses the significance of mentoring for Graduate Registered Nurses during the transition phase to practice and its implications on work-life balance and resilience. It also explores SMART goals for achieving work-life balance and resilience.

Running head: BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY 1
Building Professional Capacity: Mentoring as a Professional Development Strategy for new
Graduate Registered Nurse in relation to the Transition Phase to Practice
Name
Institution
Date

BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY 2
Building Professional Capacity: Mentoring
The transition from a student to a graduate registered nurse can be considered as a
significant milestone in the professional life of a student. In the ever-changing healthcare sector,
one thing that remains constant is the fact that there has always been an increase in demand for
nurses. The aim of this paper is to discuss a strategy for effective transition of graduate registered
nurses to the real practical world or working environment. Specifically, the paper will discuss the
significance of mentoring for Graduate Registered Nurses and how it helps during transition and
its implications on work-life balance and resilience. SMART goals for achieving work life
balance and resilience will also be discussed.
The significance of Mentoring for GRN
In a complex profession like nursing, it is essential for practitioners to adopt the
evidence-based practice and advocate for professional development. According to Melrose
(2018), the traditional ways of educating and supporting research, clinical, personal and
academic growth in the nursing profession has been found wanting. Literature supports
mentoring as a strategy to address the existing gaps in individual nurse support. Effective
mentoring results in promotion of collegiality, increased job satisfaction, team building,
improved teaching and professional skills, and improved clinical and academic performances.
Mentoring has been defined by different researchers and hence, getting a universal
understanding in the nursing field has proved to be difficult. The most common definition is by
Martin & Hodge (2011) who defined mentoring as a relationship between two individuals in
which the one with more experiences and more educated guides others and help them in their
personal and professional development. Woolnough and Fielden (2017) defined mentoring as a
process where a more experienced individual extends a helping hand to a young and aspiring

BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY 3
person for advice, teaching and guidance in order to help him/her in establishing their profession.
Considering these definitions, it is apparent that mentoring is very crucial for new graduate
registered nurses.
Kaihlanen, Lakanmaa and Salminen (2013) note that graduate nursing students are not
well-prepared to handle the increased responsibility and the actual roles of a nurse in the hospital
set up. Mentoring process has a significant impact on the new registered nurses who want to start
their working life as it helps them in their professional growth and the development of self-
esteem (Edwards, Hawker, Carrier & Rees, 2015). Wong et al. (2018) note that graduate
registered nurses face a lot of challenges during their transition phases such as work
dissatisfaction and stress which makes them quit their jobs. Some studies have established that
mentoring and orientation can help them to increase their confidence in handling patients,
increase job satisfaction and in coping with work stress (Tsang, Sham, Law, Chan & Sze, 2016).
A compelling new graduate nurse-mentor relationship helps in supporting the professional
growth of the graduate nurse (Mellor, Gregoric & Gillham, 2017). Mentoring has a significant
impact on the experiences of acceptance, appreciation and belongingness and is considered to be
an indicator of how easy the transition process to working life will be (Kaihlanen, Lakanmaa &
Salminen, 2013). Mentors help new professionals and act as role models and adviser who can be
relied upon in the new learning environment. Mentoring provides an opportunity for new
graduate nurses to familiarize themselves with the new demands and roles as professional nurses
(Kaihlanen, Lakanmaa & Salminen, 2013).
Implications of Mentoring to Work-life Balance and Resilience
Graduate registered nurses face a lot of challenges in their initial stages of the career.
Such challenges have made it impossible to achieve a work-life balance which is a goal of any

BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY 4
nursing professional. According to Simmons (2012), work-life balance refers a way of bringing
work and leisure time into balance to enable one live life to its fullest. Work-life balance
involves balancing work and leisure in order to achieve harmony in emotional, spiritual and
physical health (Simmons, 2012).
Mullen (2015) reported that many nurses experience lack of balance between work and
life outside work. Many nurses spend more time in their work than outside work; a factor that
has negative health implications to one’s life. Some of the main challenges that make it difficult
to achieve work-life balance among graduate registered nurses include sleep deprivation due to
long working hours, bad social interaction, the feeling of isolation and workplace conflicts
(Hofler & Thomas, 2016). Workplace bullying has also been reported to be among the most
common challenges that new graduate registered nurses experience (Hofler & Thomas, 2016).
Mentoring provides an opportunity for new graduate nurses to increase their competency which,
in turn, gives them a sense of confidence and self-esteem to perform their duties. This further
helps them to make wise decisions regarding work and life choices which significantly improves
work-life balance (Hofler & Thomas, 2016). Mentors who coach the new graduate nurses
integrate them into the actual practice environment.
Resilience, on the other hand, refers to the ability a person to survive and adapt to
adversity (Kim & Windsor, 2015). This attribute allows people to develop supportive and
beneficial relationships with friends and family during difficult times (Kim & Windsor, 2015).
The stressful nature of nursing professional requires resilience which can be achieved through
effective mentoring by experienced nurses. Mentoring fosters confidence and self-esteem in new
nurses which is essential in developing resilience (Tsang et al., 2016). Mentoring helps new

BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY 5
graduate registered nurses to establish relationships which are crucial in times of emotional
distress.
Nurses often repor
t to ha
ve experienced a lack of balance
between their work and life outside of work.
SMART Goals
Work-life balance is an essential aspect that every employee yearns for. In order to
achieve work-life balance, it is critical to establish goals that would help in the journey towards
achieving it. The goal that has been set to achieve work-life balance is exercise. To ensure the
goal of exercising twice a day is achieved, the first action that will be taken is to inform family
and friends about the planned routine exercise as stated in appendix 1. Informing the family and
friends will ensure that they provide any support that might be required. The family members
will exempt one from some house chores and make the graduate nurse to concentrate on the
exercises. Exercise requires maximum concentration; hence, switching off the phone will prevent
any disruptions and maximise concentration. As a professional, it is essential to inform the
employer about such arrangements so that they can provide the necessary support such as
allowing one to report to work at a particular time (Greenhaus, Ziegert & Allen, 2012). Notifying
the employer and workmates will prevent misunderstanding and will enable one to contribute to
the exercise.
Resilience is another critical aspect that graduate nurses require in their transition phase.
This can be achieved by enrolling in stress management classes as indicated in appendix 2. Stress
management classes will help the graduate nurses to acquire skills that would help them reframe
life experiences using the five basic principles of forgiveness, gratitude, acceptance, higher
meaning and compassion (Chesak et al., 2015). In this case, mentoring will come into play.

BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY 6
Mentors will equip the graduate nurses with the necessary skills on how to cope with work
adversities. Books and other reading materials will also help in acquiring more knowledge on
resilience.
Conclusion
The transition from a student to a graduate registered nurse is often characterised by a lot
of challenges. Mentoring has proved to be an effective strategy that can help one to minimise
such difficulties. Mentoring has a potential to reduce stress and anxiety and improve self-
awareness and resilience. This will, in turn, lead to job satisfaction and improved care delivery.
Another critical aspect that goes hand in hand with nursing is work-life balance. Due to the
nature and complexity of the job, nurses have often found themselves spending more time at
work than with family and friends. Mentoring will equip the graduate nurses with resilience and
confidence to enable them to have a balance between work and off-duty activities.

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References
Chesak, S. S., Bhagra, A., Schroeder, D. R., Foy, D. A., Cutshall, S. M., & Sood, A. (2015).
Enhancing resilience among new nurses: feasibility and efficacy of a pilot
intervention. The Ochsner Journal, 15(1), 38-44.
Edwards, D., Hawker, C., Carrier, J., & Rees, C. (2015). A systematic review of the
effectiveness of strategies and interventions to improve the transition from student to
newly qualified nurse. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 52(7), 1254-1268.
Greenhaus, J. H., Ziegert, J. C., & Allen, T. D. (2012). When family-supportive supervision
matters: Relations between multiple sources of support and work–family
balance. Journal of vocational behavior, 80(2), 266-275.
Hofler, L., & Thomas, K. (2016). Transition of new graduate nurses to the workforce challenges
and solutions in the changing health care environment. North Carolina medical
journal, 77(2), 133-136.
Kaihlanen, A. M., Lakanmaa, R. L., & Salminen, L. (2013). The transition from nursing student
to registered nurse: The mentor’s possibilities to act as a supporter. Nurse Education in
Practice, 13(5), 418-422.
Kim, M., & Windsor, C. (2015). Resilience and work-life balance in first-line nurse
manager. Asian nursing research, 9(1), 21-27.
Martin, C. T., & Hodge, M. (2011). A nursing department faculty-mentored research
project. Nurse Educator, 36(1), 35-39.

BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY 8
Mellor, P., Gregoric, C., & Gillham, D. (2017). Strategies new graduate registered nurses require
to care and advocate for themselves: A literature review. Contemporary nurse, 53(3),
390-405.
Melrose, S. (2018). Mentoring non-traditional students in clinical practicums: Building on
strengths. Clinical Nursing Studies, 6(3), 39.
Mullen, K. (2015). Barriers to work–life balance for hospital nurses. Workplace health &
safety, 63(3), 96-99.
Simmons, S. (2012). Striving for work-life balance. AJN The American Journal of
Nursing, 112(1), 25-26.
Tsang, L. F., Sham, S. Y. A., Law, S. L. W., Chan, Y. M., & Sze, C. Y. (2016). ToUCH Program
on competence, occupational stress and self-efficacy of newly graduated registered
nurses in United Christian Hospital: A mixed method research study. Journal of Nursing
Education and Practice, 6(8), 129.
Wong, S. W. J., Che, W. S. W., Cheng, M. T. C., Cheung, C. K., Cheung, T. Y. J., Lee, K. Y., ...
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Woolnough, H., & Fielden, S. (2017). Mentoring as a Career Development Tool. In Mentoring in
Nursing and Healthcare: Supporting Career and Personal Development. pp. 26-44.

BUILDING PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY 9
Appendices
Appendix 1: SMART GOAL for Work-life Balance
S Exercise two times a day
M
I will use a diary to tick off every time an exercise is accomplished
A
 I will inform my family and friends about my scheduled exercise routine
 I will be turning off my phone during the exercises to avoid any form of disruption
 It will inform my workmates regarding my schedule
R The exercises do not require high fitness levels to achieve
T The exercise will start officially next month
Appendix 2: SMART Goal for Resilient Approach to Practice
S Take stress management class every evening for four weeks
M
I should be able to portray an optimistic attitude even during stressful moments
A
 Reading books on stress management
 Requesting a mentor to guide me during difficult times
 Inform the employer about the training
R Every organization requires people who have self-control and can work under pressure

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T The classes will take four weeks and will start next month