388 ■ III: ROLE FUNCTIONS OF DOCTORAL ADVANCED NURSING PRACTICE
means of retaining their talent. Clearly, this would benefit the profession since this proc-
ess leads way to a structured system of accomplishing this through succession planning,
an overlooked process in the nursing profession.
■ SUMMARY
The DNP degree has sustained growth since the American Association of the Colleges
of Nursing (AACN) announced their position statement on the practice doctorate in
nursing in 2004. With over 100 programs in existence and graduates already having
transitioned into this newfound role, strategic initiatives are required to optimize their
success presently and in the long term. Mentorship, a multifaceted process that fosters
development of DNP students and graduates, is a fundamental initiative that can sup-
port this endeavor. DNPs not only need mentorship that is meaningful, they will also
quite often serve as mentors in their leadership capacity. The social and relational proc-
ess of mentoring is optimized when concepts of authenticity, mutual respect, apprecia-
tion, an optimistic attitude, commitment, transformative complicity, cultural humility,
and empowerment guide the practice of mentorship. Critical to this process also is to
recognize the necessity for life- long mentorship in order to meet the needs of the DNP
as they continue to develop across their career trajectory. Mentors embody this with
their aspirational demeanor and requiring their mentee to continually reflect, challenge,
change, and evaluate his or her practice. This process creates transformative spaces for
their DNP colleagues to harness their potential. Ultimately, mentorship will be success-
ful only with individual commitment, and organizational, and systemic support. Taken
together, change that occurs will not only benefit the individual nurses by helping them
in developing the capacity, the profession itself can be transformed, thereby contribut-
ing positively to the lives of our patients, their families, and communities.
■ CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS
- Conduct a personal audit of your personal and professional interest and skills: what attributes
would you bring to your role as a mentor or mentee? - What are some strategies you can use to become an effective mentor?
- Discuss the characteristics of an effective mentor for a doctoral student from an underrepre-
sented group. - What are some specific obstacles to or issues about mentorship, which the mentor must be
aware of and prepared to address? - Apply a systems perspective to the need for mentorship in doctoral level education for nurses
and for new doctorally prepared nurses: What is the state of practice now and what needs to
happen to strengthen the practice of mentorship for the future? - Compare and contrast mentorship and collegial, or peer, support in doctorally prepared ad-
vanced nursing practice. Can one role and practice evolve into another, or are they mutually
exclusive? - What are some outcomes you would expect to see from an effective peer mentoring relation-
ship between colleagues? - Conduct an audit of your organization’s policy for mentoring nurses who are in, or are new
to, advanced roles: Based on what you have learned from this chapter, how can you improve
on, adapt, or apply that policy?