The Vermont
School Nurse Mentoring Project
Background for the project:
This project
arose out of the realization that new school nurses in Vermont are
often confused and overwhelmed at the beginning of a new job, and as
a result feel isolated and ambiguous about the position.
Previously, there has been informal contact between experienced
nurses and new nurses, but no systematic way of helping the novice
school nurse through her first difficult year. We have all met
nurses who tried and left school nursing, often feeling that they
had no “back up”. This program hopes to assist new nurses in their
new role.
Upon
researching new school nurse programs around the country, several
ideas emerged that should be incorporated into the Vermont program.
First is the idea of skill acquisition, which states that even
though many new school nurses are experts in other sub-specialties
of nursing, when placed in an unfamiliar setting they become novices
in their new practice. Competencies involved in school nursing may
include specific nursing tasks, but also reflect standards of
nursing practice as exemplified by the NASN and Vermont Standards of
Nursing Practice. The nurse that has proven to be expert in school
nursing practice should assist the novice nurses to become
proficient: it is incumbent on us as professionals to participate in
this process.
Second,
adult learning theory, or andragogy, suggest that the typical adult
learner is eager to participate as an equal partner in the learning
experience, but does not respond as well to lectures and didactic
instruction. Adult learners need to receive immediate feedback on
how they are doing and want direct, concrete experiences that
relates theory or information to day-to-day activities. The
protégée, or mentee, has a need for information and is willing to
learn. It is necessary that the mentor have more experience and
expertise in the field than that of the protégée. The “on the job”
experience that school nurses face their first year is the perfect
setting for adult leaning and a mentoring relationship.
Third,
mentoring is different from the nursing preceptorships with which we
are most familiar. Mentoring is a two-way, fostering relationship
in which both participants enter the compact voluntarily and expect
to receive a valuable experience. Thus, adult learning theory is
applicable to the mentoring experience. Mentoring can impart
knowledge such as ‑
nursing
procedures, but it also plays a part in the professional
socialization of the protégée. One hallmark of the mentor-protégée
relationship is the sense of common purpose and equality of
position, while the other is that the mentoring programs is
separated from performance evaluation. The protégée must be assured
that she can ask questions and reveal herself honestly without
fearing that her position is in jeopardy.
Last, the
mentoring program allows the novice school nurse to socialize to her
new situation, and in doing so becomes independent and autonomous,
rather than feeling isolated and uncertain in her new role. The
expert nurse assists in this transformation by being available,
encouraging and affirming, introducing the novice nurse to available
resources on the local, state, and national level, and by
exemplifying excellence in her practice.
How does the project work?
Previously,
school nurse mentoring in Vermont has consisted of an occasional
phone call and infrequent contact; this program commits both nurses
to a minimum of four face-to-face meetings during a school year, and
contact at least one other time once a month all year. The VSSNA
will assist by giving time at the autumn and spring conferences to
allow mentoring pairs to meet, but other contact must be set up
independently. Other requirements include committing to an
agreement that articulates mutually agreed upon goals, time frames,
and methods of communication. An outline and check list of subjects
to be covered will be provided, but it is left to the mentoring pair
to decide how and when to discuss the material. It is, therefore,
incumbent on the mentoring pair to document meetings and subjects
under discussion, using this record to fulfill requirements for
licensure or relicensure credit.
How does one become a mentor?
Members of
the board of directors of the VSSNA have agreed that the minimum
requirements for the mentor includes baccalaureate preparation,
membership in the VSSNA, and a minimum of three years of school
nursing experience. At least one and preferably two years
experience nursing in Vermont would be helpful.
Although
there is no VSSNA requirement that the mentor nurse is recompensed
by her school system or the school system of the protégée nurse, the
Vermont Standards Board for Professional Educators states that “it
is recommended that mentoring programs provide a means for
recognition and/or compensation for the mentor’s training and work
(e.g. stipends, relicensure or academic credit, public
acknowledgment)”. Nurse mentors are encouraged to discuss this at
the supervisory union level and with their LEA representative.
There is a survey that can assist you to consider this program. New
school nurses have similar needs assessment survey, which will allow
the mentoring pair to set goals based on perceived needs of the
protégée.
How does one become a protégée?
New school
nurses complete a needs assessment survey during the new school
nurse orientation workshop held by the Vermont Department of
Education in August. As a part of the survey, nurses indicate
whether they would like to be part of the mentoring pair. This
survey also allows the mentoring pair to set goals based on
percieved needs of the protégée. The Vermont Standards Board for
Professional Educators requires all nurses working on a provisional
license to have an experienced school nurse mentor assigned during
the period of provisional licensure. Therefore, this program is
offered to school superintendents as a method of standardizing a new
school nurse mentoring program that is open to all school nurses.
Further Information
Nurse
mentors are offered information on mentoring and the program through
the VSSNA website and through the VSSNA newsletter. A networking
opportunity will be offered at the Autumn and Spring conferences.
All other new school nurses are invited to join the program if they
would like the assistance and guidance of a mentor nurse.
Discount
The VSSNA
has agreed to allow new school nurses who are part of an established
mentoring pair to join the VSSNA at half the usual cost of
membership.
