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Updated: Jul 19, 2025

Using Learning Outcome Measures to assess Doctoral Nursing Education
Published on: June 21, 2010
The experiences of doctorally prepared nurses and doctoral nursing students with being mentored in the Nurse-Lead
L J C van Dongen1, H Leino-Kilpi2, H Jónsdóttir3
1Department of Nursing Science, University of Turku, Finland; Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands; CWZ Academe, Canisius Wilhelmina Ziekenhuis, the Netherlands.
Aim:
to explore experiences of being mentored and the contribution of the mentoring to leadership and professional development of doctorally prepared nurses and doctoral nursing students participating in the Nurse-Lead programme.
Background:
Mentoring is considered important for career development of academic nurses. Doctorally prepared nurses need a wide range of professional competences to develop sustainable careers. Therefore, they may benefit from a larger network of mentors, outside their own organization, to support their professional development. Therefore, a web-based leadership and mentoring programme was developed - the Nurse Lead programme.
Design:
A descriptive study with semi-structured focus groups.
Method:
Three focus groups were conducted during an on-site programme meeting in 2019 with twenty-one doctorally prepared nurses and doctoral nursing students. The interview guide included questions about mentoring relationships and meaning of mentoring for leadership and professional development. The interviews were thematically analysed.
Results:
Five themes were identified: "Preferred characteristics of mentors", "Developing trusting relationships", "Engagement of the mentors", "Becoming a proficient researcher and team leader" and "Becoming an empowered and confident professional".
Conclusion:
Mentoring supported the leadership and professional development of doctorally prepared nurses and doctoral nursing students. Participants were engaged in rewarding mentoring trajectories. The results indicate that a similar approach could be followed when developing mentoring programmes in the future.
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