Mentorship in British Nursing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Mentorship in British Nursing - Essay Example This research paper describes the field of nursing and the area of mentor contribution to development of clinical skills in nursing graduates. A mentor is cast in the mold of a teacher. In order to assess the impact of the mentor’s role in enhancing learning, it would be useful to explore how learning actually takes place. Book learning or assimilating theoretical principles are not in question here, since theories and knowledge from textbooks can at best, serve as a general guideline to a nurse faced with real life clinical situations. The ability to perform well in a clinical environment can be grasped only dimly from text book theory and cannot substitute for the valuable experience gained in a working situation under the guidance of a mentor, who functions as a teacher and a role model. The issue to consider here is the manner in which learning takes place and several theories have been presented in this regard. The mentor functions in the role of a demonstrator for a nurs ing student, facilitating learning through real life application of medical principles. But in addition, a mentor also functions as a guide for the nursing student, providing valuable feedback on the actual implementation of nursing principles as practiced by the student. On the job performance appraisals are an important learning tool for a nursing student. Feedback provided by a mentor serves as a valuable tool for the student to understand what he or she is doing wrong or right, so that corrections may be made appropriately.