Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 26, 2026
Observational Study Protocol for Repeated Clinical Examination and Critical Care Ultrasonography Within the Simple Intensive Care Studies
Published on: January 16, 2019
[Mentor and neophyte relationship: a phenomenological study about novice nurses' socialization in intensive care
Loris Bonetti1, Anne Destrebecq, Marta Nucchi
1Università degli Studi di Milano, Sezione AO, Polo Universitario L. Sacco, Milano.
Goal:
this article is aimed at examining the relationship and experience between expert and novice nurses in intensive care unit; it also assesses the implementation of mentorship functions by expert nurses.
Design:
phenomenological.
Setting:
three university hospitals, in Milan.
Sample:
11 expert nurses, 11 novice nurses.
Outcome Measurement:
the expert and novice nurses of our sample have been interviewed in a semi-structured context; the interviews have been audio taped and transcribed. The results of transcription have been analyzed through the Van Kaam method, to find major topics, and compared the topics found with the literature reviewed. Furthermore Darling's questionnaire was tested, as a pilot study, to assess the implementation of mentorship functions by expert nurses.
Results:
during the first three months in ICU, novice nurses experienced a reality shock. They said that the environment was very different from the other wards, patients were complex and unstable and there were too many things to learn. Frequently they felt frustration and inadequacy. For novice nurses positive mentoring experience, group support, congruent assignment and evaluation were related to high self-confidence, low anxiety, high job satisfaction, and low intention to leave the unit. Despite there were not formal mentoring program in the structure analyzed, novice nurses gave high evaluation to expert nurses in Darling's questionnaire.
Conclusion:
the socialization process of a neophyte in ICU is complex. Therefore, it is necessary to plan it very well. Great importance have in this period mentor relationship, group support, congruent assignment and evaluation. This things could lower voluntary turnover and shortage, two big problems for the nowadays nursing profession. It could be interesting to implement a formal mentoring program in Italy too, to assess the practicability of it.
Related Concept Videos
01:27Nursing Ethical Principles II
Consider the following scenario, which illustrates how these principles are applied in the care of Mr. John, a fifty-year-old teacher diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer.
Initially, Mr. John's cancer...
01:27Fundamentals of Nursing Process I
01:22Nursing Ethical Principles I
Autonomy
Autonomy underscores the significance of a patient's self-determination and freedom from external control. In healthcare, respecting the...
01:25Fundamentals of Nursing Process II
01:18Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-II
Physical Therapist
A physical therapist (PT) aims to restore function or prevent additional impairment in a patient following an injury or disease. Massage, heat, cold, water, sonar waves, exercises, and electrical stimulation are some treatments used by PTs to treat...
01:21Interdisciplinary Care: The Health Care Team-I
Physicians
The physician's primary responsibility is to diagnose illness and direct the medical or surgical treatment of the condition. The authority to admit patients to a healthcare agency or institution and practice care within that setting is granted to physicians by the healthcare agency or institution itself.