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Helping new nurses take flight

"Taking a Novice Nurse Under Your Wing" (September 2011) provided useful tools and information to ensure a smooth transition from the classroom to the patient's room. I'd like to add a couple of points to this article.

  

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The statement that "clinical instructors' support and guidance are no longer available" after graduation isn't always true. Many instructors form professional relationships with their students and continue to be available after graduation.

 

A mentoring program can fall short if the mentor and mentee are randomly assigned. To improve the likelihood of success, they must be carefully matched and able to work together.1 A positive mentor is the foundation needed to help the new nurse succeed.

 

-MELISSA FURAY, BSN, RN-BC

 

Plano, Tex.

 

REFERENCE

1. Fox KC. Mentor program boosts new nurses' satisfaction and lowers turnover rate. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2010;41(7):311-316. [Context Link]

Praising Transitions

Thank you for your new department, Transitions: Issues in Palliative and End-of-Life Care. Formerly a lactation consultant and birth worker, I'm now a hospice nurse. The author, Harleah Buck, did a very good job of validating the need for gentle loving care during the transition from life to the beyond, which is just as important, and just as misunderstood, as the need for gentle loving care during the transition from the beyond to life.

While I find nearly all the departments in Nursing journal to be interesting and worthwhile, the Transitions department will have me watching my mailbox for the next issue.

-HEATHER DOAK, RN, IBCLC

Marietta, Ohio

I can't believe the timeliness of your new Transitions department. Due to a change in ownership of my facility, for the first time in my life I find myself without a job not by my own choice. As I read the article, I felt as though I was chatting with a friend. It made me excited for the next step in my career, which I pray leads me into hospice. Best wishes in this new endeavor, Harleah Buck!!

-MICHELE PERCY, RN

Sebring, Fla.

I became a hospice nurse after several years of nursing. I've had a few jobs since then, but I have to say hospice nursing was the most rewarding. I learned so much about people, death and dying, and being a nurse. It certainly put things into perspective and has helped me in dealing with deaths in my own family. I wish everyone could take some time to work as a hospice nurse.

-TAMMY PHILLIPS, RN

Corydon, Ky.

* Individual subscribers can access articles free online at http://www.nursing2011.com.