The support that mentors receive in the clinical setting

This paper looks at the support systems that mentors in a trust both need a nd have. It was a study to examine the causes of stress within mentoring wi th a view to exploring this aspect of the role and to examine the clinical learning environment. The English National Board (ENB) has stated that mentoring is a requirement for all nurse training. The literature speaks of the importance of the rol e of the mentor to the student. There has also been research showing that t his role is stressful and needs support if it is to be fully effective. How ever, there is little research into the nature and quality of the support r eceived or required by mentors. This study addresses issues;that had not been previously addressed in that it looks at the nature of the support required by the mentors to enable the m to perform their duties both to the student and to the patients in their care. The study is largely ethnographic in nature. It consists of a short series of unstructured interviews of selected experienced mentors as a means of co llecting data to enable the construction of a questionnaire that was submit ted to all mentors within the trust. This is to allow the trust and educati onal institution to work on developing newer and better support systems bot h for the present placement and also for future placements. (C) 2000 Harcou rt Publishers Ltd.