Abstract:
Healthcare facilities around the country are facing an unprecedented nursing shortage. Multiple factors including a large population of nurses nearing retirement, a high turnover rate among graduate nurses, and an aging Baby Boomer population have combined to create an environment of decreased resources and increased patient needs. Because of this, the recruitment and retention of nurses in hospital settings have become a primary agenda for nursing leaders. The purpose of this study is to determine if the implementation of a mentoring program will increase job satisfaction and the 1 year retention rate of graduate nurses. The framework is based on an adapted model of Hunt and Michael’s framework, developed by Provosto (2001). The study will be conducted at a large teaching hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana. The sample will include 50 non-mentored, graduate nurses and 50 mentored graduated nurses working on the medical/surgical units. Three questionnaires will be used in this study: Price’s Intent to Stay Scale, the Caine’s Quality of Mentoring Questionnaire, and Hoppock’s Job Satisfaction survey. Findings will provide information about the benefits of mentoring programs for graduate nurses.
