Establishing a mentorship program in rural workplaces: connection, communication, and support required

Area of Science:

• Rural Health
• Healthcare Provider Recruitment & Retention
• Professional Mentorship Programs

Background:

• Rural healthcare settings face significant challenges in recruiting and retaining healthcare providers.
• Limited staffing, complex work environments, and fewer community resources contribute to these difficulties.
• Mentorship is a proposed strategy to address these recruitment and retention issues in rural areas.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe and evaluate a pilot rural-specific mentorship program.
• To assess the program's effectiveness in supporting rural mentorships.
• To examine the program's impact on workplace transition, community connections, and healthcare provider recruitment and retention.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 30 volunteer registered nurse mentors and mentees from rural communities (<10,000 population) in Western Canada.
• Matched mentors and mentees based on relationship priorities and contact preferences.
• Implemented a 4-month online-oriented program with evaluation through electronic feedback and thematic analysis of interviews.

Main Results:

• Identified three key themes: connection, communication, and support, crucial for program success.
• Mentorship fostered connections with peers, profession, and the rural community, easing workplace transition.
• The program demonstrated effectiveness in supporting mentorships and encouraging registered nurse recruitment and retention in rural healthcare.

Conclusions:

• Rural mentorship programs are beneficial for supporting healthcare providers in rural environments.
• Successful and sustainable rural mentorship requires commitment from mentors, mentees, healthcare organizations, and communities.
• Increased recruitment and retention of rural healthcare professionals enhance community access to timely, quality health services and improve patient outcomes.