Development and Implementation of a Peer Mentoring Program for Early Career Gerontological Faculty

Key wordsEarly career faculty, gerontological nursing, Hartford Gerontological Nursing Leaders, mentorship, peer mentoringAbstractPurpose: The Hartford Gerontological Nursing Leaders (HGNL) formerly known as the Building Academic Geriatric Nursing Capacity Initiative (BAGNC), in conjunction with the National Hartford Centers of Gerontological Nursing Excellence (NHCGNE), developed and executed a peer mentoring program beginning in 2011 to enhance both (a) the experience of newly selected scholars and fellows to the NHCGNE and (b) the ongoing professional development of HGNL members. The purpose of this article is to describe key strategies used to develop and execute the peer mentoring program and to present formative program evaluation.Design: The program was launched in January 2011 with seven peer mentor and mentee matches. In June 2012, the peer mentoring committee solicited feedback on the development of the peer mentoring program and changes were made for the subsequent cohorts.Findings: An additional 12 matches were made in the following 2 years (2012 and 2013), for a total of 31 matches to date. We have learned several key lessons from our three cohorts regarding how to structure, implement, and carefully evaluate a peer mentoring program.Conclusions: Informal evaluation of our peer mentoring program noted several challenges for both peer mentors and mentees. Having knowledge of and addressing those challenges may increase the overall quality and effectiveness of peer mentoring programs and, in turn, benefit academic nursing by strengthening the faculty workforce.Clinical Relevance: Findings from development and implementation of a peer mentoring program for gerontological faculty could lead to new and adaptable programs in a variety of clinical and education settings.A mentor is "someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person" (Mentor, n.d.). Traditional mentoring is defined as a hierarchical relationship in which an older or more experienced person provides guidance over a sustained period of time to one younger and less experienced (Berk, Berg, Mortimer, Walton-Moss, & Yeo, 2005; Maas et al., 2006). Mentoring relationships can be formal or informal, and individuals often have more than one mentor throughout their professional career. The mentoring relationship should be both mutually agreed upon (Berk et al., 2005; Maas et al., 2006) and tailored to the expertise of the mentor and the needs of the mentee, which may include role modeling, professional development, and emotional and psychological support (Berk et al., 2005).Although mentoring has been a common practice for business leaders, it has gained additional recognition in recent years, especially given the aging faculty population and need to mentor the new generation of nurse scientists. Mentoring in academic nursing has gained additional recognition in recent years, especially given the aging faculty population and need to mentor the new generation of nurse scientists. It is now recognized as an essential tool in academia to assist early career faculty in meeting the challenges of maintaining an academic career that involves balancing research, teaching, and clinical responsibilities (Pololi & Knight, 2005). Mentoring can impact the decisions to enter and remain in academic careers and is associated with higher career satisfaction and research success (Bussey-Jones et al., 2006; Sambunjak, Straus, & Marusic, 2006). Mentoring also allows senior faculty to model the professional role, thus socializing mentees to the academic environment, which provides a sense of professional identity and enhances commitment to the profession (Weidman, Twale, & Stein, 2001; Yoder, 1990). Therefore, mentoring indirectly strengthens academic departments by better preparing early career faculty for academic roles and to be actively engaged in mentoring others (Bozionelos, 2004; Morrison-Beedy, Aronowitz, Dyne, & Mkandawire, 2001). …