Mentoring has been proposed as a human resource strategy to encourage recruitment and retention of nurses in Canada. However, very little research exists related to mentoring in nursing. The purpose of this study was to describe the mentoring perceptions of acute care, clinical registered nurses based on their years of nursing practice, age, gender, and education level. A descriptive correlational design was performed on an analysis of a subset of the pre-workshop data gathered as part of the research of Ferguson, Myrick, and Yonge (2006). The conceptual framework used to structure the research questions was Benners Novice to Expert model (Benner, 1984; Benner, Tanner, & Chesla, 1996). The main research question related to the relationship between nursing experience level and mentoring perceptions. More specifically, what is the relationship between age, years of nursing practice, education level, gender, and mentoring perceptions including perceived costs and benefits to mentoring, willingness to mentor, mentoring functions of coworkers, and satisfaction with current mentoring relationships? This research established that age, years of nursing practice on the current unit, and education level had some impact on mentoring perceptions. Older nurses believed that the mentor played a greater psychosocial function in the mentorship than did younger nurses. Nurses with fewer years of practice on their current unit perceived fewer costs to mentoring, were more satisfied with their mentor, and were more willing to mentor. Previous experience as a protégé positively impacted mentoring perceptions. Nurses with prior mentoring experience were more willing to mentor. There were no significant differences between nurses with diplomas or degrees as their basic or highest level of education in nursing and mentoring perceptions. Nurses with a baccalaureate degree in another discipline perceived more benefits to mentoring than their diploma-prepared colleagues. No significant differences were noted when comparing gender with mentoring perceptions. The results of this study will provide healthcare organizations with a deeper understanding of mentoring perceptions and mentorships. From the knowledge acquired by this study, organizations can better encourage and endorse formal and informal mentoring in acute care environments. Retention and recruitment of registered nurses can be facilitated through support for mentoring.

Mentoring has been proposed as a human resource strategy to encourage recruitment and retention of nurses in Canada. However, very little research exists related to mentoring in nursing. The purpose of this study was to describe the mentoring perceptions of acute care, clinical registered nurses based on their years of nursing practice, age, gender, and education level. A descriptive correlational design was performed on an analysis of a subset of the pre-workshop data gathered as part of the research of Ferguson, Myrick, and Yonge (2006). The conceptual framework used to structure the research questions was Benners Novice to Expert model (Benner, 1984; Benner, Tanner, & Chesla, 1996). The main research question related to the relationship between nursing experience level and mentoring perceptions. More specifically, what is the relationship between age, years of nursing practice, education level, gender, and mentoring perceptions including perceived costs and benefits to mentoring, willingness to mentor, mentoring functions of coworkers, and satisfaction with current mentoring relationships? This research established that age, years of nursing practice on the current unit, and education level had some impact on mentoring perceptions. Older nurses believed that the mentor played a greater psychosocial function in the mentorship than did younger nurses. Nurses with fewer years of practice on their current unit perceived fewer costs to mentoring, were more satisfied with their mentor, and were more willing to mentor. Previous experience as a protégé positively impacted mentoring perceptions. Nurses with prior mentoring experience were more willing to mentor. There were no significant differences between nurses with diplomas or degrees as their basic or highest level of education in nursing and mentoring perceptions. Nurses with a baccalaureate degree in another discipline perceived more benefits to mentoring than their diploma-prepared colleagues. No significant differences were noted when comparing gender with mentoring perceptions. The results of this study will provide healthcare organizations with a deeper understanding of mentoring perceptions and mentorships. From the knowledge acquired by this study, organizations can better encourage and endorse formal and informal mentoring in acute care environments. Retention and recruitment of registered nurses can be facilitated through support for mentoring.