MENTORING: THE EXPERIENCE OF NURSING SERVICE EXECUTIVES.
Contributors: Boston University.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 195
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Health Care Management.; Business Administration, Management.
Description: Purpose. This study was undertaken to determine the existence and nature of mentoring among female nursing service executives in medical center teaching hospitals. Views of nursing executives who reported they had not had a mentor were also identified.

Methodology. The study population consisted of the female nurse executives directing 393 American medical center teaching hospitals. The self-administered survey instrument Mentoring in Nursing Service: A Survey of Nursing Service Executives was used.

Analysis of the data from this descriptive, exploratory study, was conducted through use of SPSSx. There were 274 (70%) useable returns.

Results. (1) Of the 274 respondents, 195 (71%) stated they had had a mentor, and 79 (29%) stated they had not. (2) Characteristically, the mentor was female, the relationship began when the protege was between 20 to 40 years old and mentor was between 31 to 60 years old, the mentor held the higher organizational position, and the mentor-protege relationship lasted one to five years. (3) The most beneficial mentor behaviors were encouragement and recognition of potential, inspiration and role modeling, and promoting opportunities and responsibilities. The most reported beneficial mentor behavior was "showed confidence in me." (4) The importance of protege investment mentor was supported by the finding that the majority reported that their primary mentor was their most significant mentor and that they felt a moderately high or high degree of commitment from this mentor. (5) Critical incidents supported forced choice responses.

Conclusions. (1) The distinctive difference between the primary and secondary mentor is the emotional investment held by the primary mentor for the protege. Primary mentors, with their emotional commitment to the protege, have the greatest impact on career development. (2) Mentoring is an effective means used by many senior nurse administrators to groom junior nurse administrators. (3) The concept of mentoring has been used inaccurately to include all manner of helping professional relationships no matter how casual or how committed. The true essence of mentoring consists of a professional helping relationship where there is an emotional investment or commitment in the development of the protege. It is not a casual relationship.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-09, Section: B, page: 3920.

Thesis (ED.D.)--BOSTON UNIVERSITY, 1989.

School code: 0017.