Essay On Mentorship

The aim of this assignment is to critically analyse the learning environment and to discuss the mentor’s role in supporting learners during their clinical placement, acknowledging mentors’ accountability throughout the whole process.
Mentorship is a very complex, integral role which has been described by Kinnell and Hughes (2010) as a process of transferring knowledge, skills and attitudes from mentors to students, facilitating learning in order to ensure their fitness for practice. Clutterbuck (2006) considered mentor’s role as a learning provider and role model, as well as a challenging, critical friend, from network building and resourcefulness to listening and helping students to find out what they want to achieve.
In 2008, The Nursing and Midwifery Council published Standards to support learning and
For some students, the realisation that they have to acquire basic knowledge on specialised wards makes them feel frustrated, lowers their self-esteem and interferes with their learning. By developing an effective learning contract, considering students` previous experience, their needs and expectations, the mentor can avoid this problem and keep the student motivated and focused on aspects of practice that are appropriate to their stage of learning. Introduction of learning contracts has showed a significant improvement in students` performance (Lemieux 2001). Learning contracts are used for the learner’s evidence of achievement, as required by the University (Hyatt et al 2008). They are considered to be an effective tool for developing mentor-student relationship while encouraging students` autonomy (Quinn & Hughes 2007). It is very important to encourage the student to become self-directed in the development of their needs whilst using their mentor as learning resource (Morton-Cooper and Palmer