Strengthening emergency nursing practice through mentorship

Background: The Red Deer Emergency Department nursing leadership initiated a mentorship pilot project to address knowledge gaps and retention utilizing a single part time nursing position staffed above baseline. Emergency Department nursing leadership recognized that the nursing workforce was comprised of increasingly recent graduates with limited experience and that even the experienced nursing staff were struggling to keep up with the evolving demands. The reality of emergency nursing is that there is a requirement to “know a little about a lot” alongside rising patient acuity. The utilization of an experienced nurse staffed above baseline creates easily accessible support for new and experienced staff to ask questions or receive clinical guidance in a safe and timely manner. The goal was to increase support for new and existing staff alike, looking to improve retention, collaboration, and overall patient outcomes. Methods: The primary target population was Emergency Department nursing staff and has since been replicated in the Intensive Care Unit, with the ability to be scaled up to meet the demands of inpatient nursing units. Workforce challenges while facing increasing patient acuity is a universal experience across all areas of nursing. Mentorship offers a strategic approach to supporting nursing staff and setting them up for success long term, whether in a critical care specialty or inpatient unit. A secondary strategy for implementation included specialized training of mentors specifically chosen to support orientation to the department and increasing levels of responsibility within the department. This group of nurses took on the role within the frontline position they held, rather than requiring additional funding. Results: Recognizing that there are budgetary challenges in healthcare, this provided a fiscally responsible approach to supporting the growth of a large team. The collaborative partnership between the mentor nurse, education team and quality improvement nurse, led by the management team, creates a process to identify frontline trends and address issues with multiple approaches. The standardization of the orientation to new roles created a streamlined process to address gaps in knowledge and identify the need for specific support. Real-time, peer-based support led to the mentees experiencing increased clinical confidence in decision making, higher job satisfaction, and decreased burnout while the mentor experienced growth in leadership and problem-solving skills. Implications and lessons learned: Mentorship develops a culture of collaboration, growth, and psychological safety that leads to improved patient outcomes. The ability for this initiative to be scaled up in a sustainable manner could impact the nursing workforce if expanded to a larger scale. Mentorship creates a framework for confident, knowledgeable nurses, increasing retention and morale while decreasing risk of burnout and leading to improved patient outcomes and public satisfaction.