Question

Does nurses mentor other aspiring professionals? If so, how? If not, why?

Answer 1

A nurse is the professional who may exposed to variety of situations during her/his work period. Many of these situations may be stressful and risky. So a nurse must be always ready for the situation to handle. In her work life, the nurse may take various responsibilities like manager, counsellor, auditor etc. In those roles, the more important one is mentor. Mentor means to a teacher. Yes, she should act as a teacher. She may mentor her colleagues, subordintes, nursing students even junior doctors also. As a health care member, nurse may act as a mentor. At the same time, she may act as mentor for other aspiring professionals too.

As I already said, nursing is the profession which may encounter with very Stressful and risky situations, as nurses deal with human beings. So a qualified,experienced nurse can handle any of the situations confidently with her knowledge and competence.

The situation where the nurse act as a mentor

• Nurses are keen health care professionals in preventing infection. Handwashing and other standard precautions are strictly followed by the nurses. Nurses are the persons who teache other health care professionals about aseptic techniques in clinical practice.
• Nurses are the persons who may spend most with her patients rather than doctors and other health team members.Harnessing confidence of the patient and therapeutic communication with them always keen to their speedy recovery. These sort of soft techniques are rendered through nurses. And they become ultimate teachers in these.
• Nurses are very experts in improvising their available resources. Nurse mentors others the optimised utilisation of resources.
• Emergency management: Nurses is the immediate health care member who to deal with emergency situations. This is the important situation a nurse becomes a good mentor to other professionals.

Variety of situations and work experiences enable them to take as many roles and responsibilities especially a good mentor to her own colleagues and other aspiring professionals too.