Authors (including presenting author) :
Cheung KW(2), Yeung KC(1), Leung KW(1), Kwok MLA(1)(2)(3), Wong CS(1)(2)(3)
Affiliation :
(1)Shatin Hospital, (2)Cheshire Home Shatin, (3)Bradbury Hospice
Introduction :
The role transition from new nurse graduates to qualified professional nurses is always a tense and challenging experience. This is especially during a pandemic outbreak of Covid-19 5th wave in the past year 2022 . Self-confidence, satisfaction and professional growth of the new nurse graduates could be enhanced by mentoring in different clinical settings (Shellenbarger, & Robb, 2016). By organizing the Nurse Companion Program (NCP), which nominated peer group nurses to be mentors pairing up with new nurse graduates to provide experience sharing to overcome knowledge and practice gap and reality shock for the mentees. Focus on graduate nurse support for enhancement of resilience and role transition into professional practice especially during a pandemic could also help in retention of nurses in their 1st year practice.
Objectives :
1) To facilitate the role transition for new nurse graduated nurses to qualified professional nurses. 2) To enhance patient safety in daily practice 3) For nurse retention especially in their 1st year of practice.
Methodology :
In the NCP program, each fresh graduate (mentee) was paired up with one on-site NCP mentor with similar educational / career development background and to apply bonding approach helping mentees to solve difficult lived experience in the transition process to professional nurse. NCP Mentors were offered with mentorship training workshops before the NCP program in each year. Hospital-based activities were designed as twice per year to support the bonding and boost the morale to remain excited about being a professional nurse. In each hospital activity, participants including the NCP mentors and mentees were divided into small groups for better communication. Ice breaking games were designed to promote their interaction and relationship building. Followed by a group discussion on challenges and experience sharing to attain positive outcomes, mentees were encouraged to express their psychological feelings and stress theory practice gap. Recommendations including resources persons and factors which could have better support to graduate nurses such as emergency situation handling, psychological interventions and coping with Covid-19 pandemic. At the end of hospital activities, small gifts souvenirs supported by NTEC CND Fund were delivered to both mentor and mentee. Stress balls were distributed in Covid-19 pandemic in year 2021 ; magnetic badge printed with individual photo of mentee with their mentor and Fruit / Flower tea set were distributed for memories in year 2022. Post-activity evaluation was conducted with questionnaires collected from both the mentors and mentees in order to evaluate the effectiveness of activities towards the objectives and aims.
Result & Outcome :
All fresh graduates continue to stay in our nursing team over the last year. 22 mentors and 23 mentees were participated in the NCP activities in this year. According to the results of questionnaires, 98% of them were satisfied with NCP activity. 98% of the participants found the objectives were achieved. In addition, the comments collected were positive. Based on the findings, NCP program can promote the positive psychosocial support to graduate nurses as well as peer group NCP mentors. A supportive caring culture is built up and sustained in the nursing team of BBH/SCH/SH. Facilitation in the role transition of fresh graduated nurses to professional nurses could enhance patient safety and enhancing new nurses’ the job satisfaction. The support to graduate nurses’ frustration feelings and help to remove negative experience could prevent their leaving from nursing working force. References: Shellenbarger, T., & Robb, M. (2016). Effective Mentoring in the Clinical Setting. The American Journal of Nursing, 116(4), 64-68. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.NAJ.0000482149.37081.61
