Electronic application: Shattering the barriers to professional nursing mentorship

Background: Effective mentoring relationships complement practice based experiences and yields benefits for both the student (mentee) and the mentor. Typically mentoring evolves from the intentional or unintentional development of a serendipitous professional relationship. However, the use of an electronic application can facilitate the pairing of professional nurses with other nurses and/or students.

Methods: A Midwestern liberal arts college initiated a variety of mentorship strategies to pair nurses with students under a HRSA Nurse Education Practice and Retention grant. These strategies included face-to-face social events and “speed networking”. More recently, a professional profile internet application was implemented to respond to the barriers of face-to-face strategies. This internet communication system allows participants (both nurses and students) to select “best match” potential mentors based on professional interests with nurses from around the globe.

Results/Lessons Learned: The complex schedules of both students and professionals appear to be the most significant obstacle in effectively pairing students with mentors. The use of an electronic application for pairing mentors clearly demonstrates the efficient matching of professional nurses with students. An unexpected benefit of the program is the ability of faculty to network with nursing professionals in other countries supporting the globalization of the nursing curriculum.

Conclusion: The implementation of various mentorship strategies as well as establishing a “culture of mentorship” may be a valuable component of professional development. The intensity of personal time and administrative resources requires innovative strategies to create effective professional mentorship designs through internet applications.