Date of Paper/Work

5-2016

Type of Paper/Work

Scholarly project

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Nursing

Department

Nursing

Advisor

Kathleen Kalb

Abstract

To help students with course work, study tips, and study sessions, St. Catherine University currently has an Assistantship Mentoring Program (AMP). This program is described as, “a scholarly community in which students are paid to work one on one with a faculty or staff mentor as Teaching Assistants, Research Collaborators, and Program Collaborators. AMP assistants apply their education, work one to one with staff and faculty mentors, and lead and influence our campus today while building the skills necessary to guide our world tomorrow.” (Assistant Mentorship Program, 2016). For nursing students this program helps during their anatomy and physiology courses with lab assistances that run open lab times. The AMPs are also being used during their NURS 3281 (Pathophysiology) and NURS 3282 (Applied Pathophysiology) courses. Nursing students have nine other core courses that do not offer AMP support. While pathophysiology can be one of the toughest nursing courses a nursing student can take, the other nine courses are essential to a baccalaureate-educated nurse and as such students should have the opportunity to work with peers and receive help/support.

To help reduce some of the stress and anxiety of nursing school, some universities have adopted or created a peer-mentoring program between beginning and end of program students. These programs are beneficial to both student groups. According to Mollica and Mitchell (2013), mentoring students early in a nursing program has the benefits of reducing student’s anxiety, creating and promoting a positive learning environment, increasing self confidence in all students involved, and helps to lessen confusion amongst courses. For end of program students, mentoring provides opportunities to apply leadership skills, and build resumes for future jobs (Dennison, 2010). In this paper the creation and implementation of a peer-mentoring program for beginning nursing students is described and supported.

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