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DOI
https://doi.org/10.63853/TIUY1086
Description
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
Background: Nurses orientating to new environments can experience transition shock as they navigate new professional experiences, challenges, and identities. While much attention is given to supporting new graduate nurses, experienced nurses changing specialties frequently receive less structured support, despite facing unique challenges. Experienced nurses enter their new roles with a level of competence and expertise from a previous specialty, only to find themselves functioning as beginners in a new practice setting. Mentoring practices have been shown to increase confidence, decrease anxiety, and improve rates of retention and growth behaviors over the course of a career leading to personal and professional advancement for both the mentor and mentee.
Methodology: Nurses with more than 12 months of clinical, bedside care experience, who are new to pediatrics or changing specialties within pediatrics, participate in a six month long RN Fellowship program. After monthly in person seminars, Fellows participate in mentoring circles with experienced mentors. Mentors are recruited through Nursing Professional Governance communications, career and development fairs, and through identified department mentor coordinators. Two years of clinical experience are required to be a mentor in the RN Fellowship program. Circle groups are small, with five to eight RN Fellows, to facilitate reflective conversation. Each month’s topic is centered around a different element of the organization’s Nursing Professional Practice Model. A list of suggested prompting questions, creative ice breakers, and conversation activities is provided to the mentor. Surveys are presented at three and six months to RN Fellows to determine effectiveness of mentoring and the program.
Outcomes: Since the launch of the RN Fellowship program, fourteen experienced mentors have participated representing nursing roles in direct patient care, transport, quality, clinical nurse specialists, clinical educators, and clinical leaders. Nurse mentors have expressed improved confidence in guiding conversations with the addition of the activities along with prompting questions. 14% of RN Fellows report that they have been in contact with mentors outside of mentoring circles, strengthening connections to the nursing culture. The first year RN Fellow retention rate increased by 34% from 2023 to 2024. One RN Fellow commented “[Mentoring circles] allowed me an open and safe place to talk about my worries and…relate to my peers,” highlighting the impact that mentoring circles have on nurses transitioning specialties. The inclusion of structured mentoring circles benefits nurses transitioning into new specialties, as well as equips individuals seeking to grow in mentoring peers and colleagues.
Publication Date
11-24-2025
Disciplines
Pediatric Nursing
Recommended Citation
Shaw, Martha; Hesler, Jill; and Ritchie, Sarah, "Circling Together to Support Transitioning Nurses with Mentorship" (2025). 2025. 11.
https://scholarlycollection.childrens.com/nursing-anf2025/11
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
