Welcome back to our monthly @WeNurses Student Nurse Blogs! We took a little break during August but it is good to be back and thinking about Septembers blog.
If you want to post a blog this month the subject is "Experiences of mentors & mentoring" Have you had a mentor who has inspired you? Or a mentor who you have learnt from, be they good or not so good? Are you a mentor? (even though this is the student blog it would be fab to get mentors perspectives this month too!) What makes a good mentor ? What makes a good mentor / student relationship?
Writing a blog post is dead easy ... Simply refer to the infographic for instructions below or click HERE to find out more about the WeNurses Student Blog. When you have written your post paste it into the “Your blog post” section below (Don't forget to Login in the top right hand corner of this page with your Twitter details as this enables you to post) When you have submitted your post, tweet about it and include #WeSTNblog in your tweets! Every person that writes a blog will receive a certificate via email at the end of the month.
The post will close to new contributions on the 30th September so check back then to read about your peers’ experiences.
We love reading and sharing all of your blog posts and can't wait to hear your thoughts on mentoring.
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@LukiKnowsBest
25 September 2016 20:46
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I’m Luke. I’m 28 and studying Mental Health at The University of Salford. I was one of the student volunteers at #WGT16 as well which was fantastic and I was glad to meet so many of the members of WeCommunities. Thus far I’ve only had two official mentors in practice as I’ve only had two different placements. The first was in a Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) where I was assigned a mentor but a collective decision was made that the entire team would mentor me. I was given the task of being independent; work out my own workload of visits and keep busy in the team. In the first two weeks of placement I got some feedback I needed to push myself forward a little more. I was at the start of my course and was admittedly nervous coming into an already established team so was a little shy. This gentle encouragement gave me a little kick to be more active and soon I was busier and helping more practitioners. It gave me a lot of confidence that each person on the team was working to encourage and support my learning and spurred me on to do better. It was interesting to see how each practitioner worked differently to each other and also adapted their style in dealing with other service users. I grew a lot of confidence and got good feedback about fitting into the team really well by the end of my 6 weeks with them. I spent lots of time just listening to the team interact, talk about ways they would act if they were in a situation and the “banter” that goes on in a team to keep spirits highly stressed team. There was another student on the other team who solely worked with each other and I admit there was a slight pang of “I wish there was someone I was working that closely with”. In my next placement, that’s exactly what I got. My mentor ring fenced time with me, we worked identical shifts except when I needed to do some night shifts. We were virtually joined at the hip and we had a really good working relationship where I was able to identify her need from me before she expressed it. When it came to decision making, she consulted me. “what would you do if you were me” was a question she often asked of me and often said that she agreed with me. It was a different experience of learning from just one person as well as one person focusing all their effort into my learning. It had a much more personal touch to it. I’m a few weeks away from my next placement and a totally different environment, different trust and different mentor so I’m a little nervous about what sort of mentor I will have. Much like each person and patient is different and had to be treated that way, so is every mentor…and every student. |
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@chloebairdx
09 September 2016 16:43
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Hi, I’m Chloe. I’m an Adult Nursing student from Glasgow Caledonian University, entering my 3rd and final year. Throughout my training I have had several mentors, some good & some not-so-good. I’m pleased to say that the majority of my mentors have all been brilliant & knowledgeable in their own field. One mentor in particular stands out. A community nurse who visits in one of the most run-down areas of Glasgow with numerous health inequalities, issues and challenges facing the community each day/ This mentor visits her patients with a smile on her face, has a joke or a story for her patients & yet when we get back in to the car, she tells me of the worries & concerns for her patients, some of which are out-with her control all together & you can see that this deeply troubles her. I appreciated all of the clinical knowledge that she imparted with me, but what I found most valuable was her lessons on humility, approach and kindness, lessons that I try to remember & pass on to others. Unfortunately, (or fortunately, depending on which way you see it) I have had one mentor that did not lend herself to the practice learning experience during my placement in a busy care of the elderly ward. This mentor was rather blasé & uninterested when it came to direct patient interaction & contact, a quality which I found very strange to witness in such a person-centred role. As an example; If this mentor was in close proximity of a patient & they called for help, the nurse would either call on myself or ask the patient to press the call bell for someone else to assist them. This nurse was adamant not to interact with patients or relatives. This, however unhelpful or unbearable this mentor was for all manner of reasons, this taught me about the kind of practitioner I would not like to become & steps to take if I feel that this is how I begin to practice. In my experience as a student, I believe the ability to connect with your mentor in a way that is professional yet comfortable is especially important to be able to ask questions & raise concerns. Each of the good mentors (of which there have been many) have taught me many clinical skills, policies, legislation & given plenty of learning experiences which are invaluable to nurse training, but they have also taught me about the personal qualities that they possess, whether they know it or not, which all together comprises to make a good nurse & person. |
