Mentorship as a teaching strategy

Nursing is facing challenges perhaps unparalleled in its history. As we face the opportunities of the future, mentors play a more important role than ever. Mentors have "provided inspiration, support, and encouragement during high and low points of my development." "have forever changed the course of our practice," taught through "her commitment to the advancement of her students and colleagues, her gentle but persistent encouragement to grow, and her generosity in providing pivotal opportunities," "taught me three lessons: caring gets results, family comes first, and passionate commitment is contagious," offers a potential buoy in the sea of change in health care, and possibly enhances clinical outcomes. Mentors can be found in your boss, teacher, spouse, friend, colleague, or peer. Mentorship is a gift between two people and must be given and accepted as such. Not everyone should act as a mentor; the relationship cannot occur and develop when there is no desire to share. Nursing is about learning and teaching. "The spirit of the nursing profession dies when it is reduced to a set of abstract theories, legal requirements, and expert skills. These are the results, not the goals, of scholarship and leadership. Scholarly endeavors always occur amidst communities of learners engaged in being better practitioners of their discipline." Mentors are the leaders amidst the community of nursing.