MENTORING IN THE CAREER-DEVELOPMENT OF HOSPITAL STAFF NURSES - MODELSAND STRATEGIES

Mentoring in the career development of hospital staff nurses was explo red using a qualitative, grounded-theory method in a descriptive study design. Verbatim audiotaped interviews of hospital staff nurses and t heir nurse managers from four hospitals in the northeast were used. Do cument analysis of key hospital and nursing organizational policy stat ements was included. Two models were identified from the study regardi ng the mentoring of hospital staff nurses, ie, a structural and a proc ess model. Within the structural model, mentoring influentials were no ted to be people, events, and environments. Peers and nurse managers p roved to be the primary people influential in providing key mentoring strategies. Within the process model, four phases were identified lead ing to three separate career development outcomes toward which hospita l staff nurses strive: the development of career-building relationship s, facilitation of career transition points, and positive interaction within the organizational climate. Copyright (C) 1995 by W.B. Saunders Company