The Value of a Nursing Mentorship Program to New Graduate Nurses: An Integrative Review

Abstract

Nursing shortages often lead to suboptimal staffing characteristics, such as low staffing levels, high turnover, low Registered Nurse (RN) percentage among the professional staff, and more frequent use of nurse overtime. The aim of this integrative review is to identify the best evidence-based interventions that may improve retention of the new graduate nurses and improve their job satisfaction. Various databases were searched such as; PubMed, EMBASE and CINAHL between 2000 and 2016. As a result, three themes emerged from this review (1) retention rate of the new graduate nurse; (2) impact of a mentorship program on job ssatisfaction and self-confidence and (3) the effect of a nurse residency program participation on patient care outcomes and new nurse’s skills. The conclusion of this review has braced the development of a nurse mentorship program for the new graduate nurses as a recommended strategy that will fit the organization’s needs to increase the number of Saudi national nurses within the organization. However, full support and dedication from all the stakeholders is needed to make it a successful program.

Keywords: Retention, Mentor, Turnover, New RN, New Nurse, Mentor Program, Nurse Residency, Mentorship, Intention to Stay, Job Satisfaction