Mentors' perspectives on supporting nurse faculty scholars

Area of Science:

• Nursing
• Health Professions Education

Background:

• Faculty mentoring is crucial for academic and professional development.
• Addressing the nursing faculty shortage requires effective mentorship programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe mentors' perceptions of mentoring purpose, processes, outcomes, and challenges.
• To assess mentors' self-rated effectiveness and relationship quality.
• To evaluate the likely contributions of junior faculty to academia and healthcare.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative and quantitative data collected via online survey from 51 mentors.
• Investigator-developed survey instrument.
• Content analysis for narrative data; descriptive statistics for quantitative data.

Main Results:

• Mentors largely rated themselves effective in their roles.
• Program and mentor-mentee goals were generally met.
• Key aspects of mentoring purpose, processes, outcomes, and challenges were elucidated.

Conclusions:

• Effective mentoring contributes to junior faculty development and academic advancement.
• Successful mentorship programs can aid in mitigating the nursing faculty shortage.
• Further research can refine understanding and implementation of faculty mentoring.