Mentoring in the career development of hospital staff nurses: models and strategies

Mentoring in the career development of hospital staff nurses was explored using a qualitative, grounded-theory method in a descriptive study design. Verbatim audiotaped interviews of hospital staff nurses and their nurse managers from four hospitals in the northeast were used. Document analysis of key hospital and nursing organizational policy statements was included. Two models were identified from the study regarding the mentoring of hospital staff nurses, ie, a structural and a process model. Within the structural model, mentoring influentials were noted to be people, events, and environments. Peers and nurse managers proved to be the primary people influential in providing key mentoring strategies. Within the process model, four phases were identified leading to three separate career development outcomes toward which hospital staff nurses strive: the development of career-building relationships, facilitation of career transition points, and positive interaction within the organizational climate.