16: LIFELONG MENTORSHIP AND MENTEESHIP ■ 385of doctoral candidates, students, and DNPs who are new to a role or position. One of the
strategies to accomplish this goal is to create formal mentoring programs that embody
values of inclusion, social justice, and empowerment while recruiting and supporting
nurses from underrepresented groups for DNP preparation in direct health care deliv-
ery, education, and research.
One of the most successful of these formal mentoring programs is the “Bridges
to the Doctorate for Minority Nursing Students” (NIGMS Minority Programs Update,
2015), which is a program begun in 2003 to increase the number of doctorally prepared
minority nurses in the United States, funded through a grant of the National Institutes
of Health (NIH) Bridges. The program consists of partner schools of nursing (Chicago’s
DePaul University, Purdue University Calumet, and the University of Illinois Chicago
[UIC]) collaborating to recruit, support, and mentor MSN students into a PhD in
Nursing program. Program coordinators guide and counsel students throughout the
application process. Seminars and socials provide needed peer and faculty mentoring
and networking time. NIH Research Training Grants support students’ research and
fund studies. Data show that faculty- mentoring supports as well as financial support
are key to retention (L. Scott, personal communication, July 20, 2015).
No matter which model of mentoring is used, or whether mentoring is provided
through a traditional or nontraditional program, doctoral advanced nursing mentors
must have as their goal to increase minority representation in leadership and mentoring
roles in health care as administrators, policy makers, faculty, and providers. Strategies
must be developed to facilitate marketing as well as target recruitment and retention
to specified populations or of nurses. For instance, ads can be placed in the journals
and magazines directed to specific minority group readers, such as Minority Nurse. In
addition, college recruiters can actively recruit and display at minority professional con-
ferences, such as the National Black Nurses Association or the National Association of
Hispanic Nurses. Mentors must advocate for closer access to doctoral programs, help
with facilitation of the application process (which itself can be a barrier to access), target
recruitment of minority students, and provide support for the many students who are
also caring for senior parents, as well as minors in their homes. This support includes
financial aid, which is considered crucial for doctoral students (Idealist, 2015).
To reiterate, effective mentoring is a process that includes the use of mutual respect,
appreciation, a positive attitude, commitment, authenticity, and honesty by both men-
tor and mentee. The following are the tips for effective mentoring for both the mentor
and mentee. These tips can be used as a guide for any doctorally prepared nurse who is
planning to serve as a mentor to a colleague or student or to any nurse who is entering
a new role, accepting a new position, or opening a new practice.
■ TIPS FOR MENTOR AND MENTEE
TIPS FOR THE MENTOR
- Since mentoring can occur through informal or formal processes, you do not
need to wait to be appointed or asked to be someone’s mentor. If you see
someone who is new to a role, career, setting, position, and/ or skill set, step
up. Welcome, invite, introduce, and reinforce your welcome with your pres-
ence and an offer of your time or resources. Your mentoring actions will be
rewarded through the growth of your colleagues in advanced nursing practice
and by extension, paying it forward to someone else.