Mentoring is an important aspect of schooling, although it is often neglected, even by educators themselves. Although many students often do well without extra assistance, they can do so through extra effort and work on their part. Many students, however, either lack the opportunity or the will to perform better. As a result, they often require mentoring in schools.
Beyond academics
Many experts also believe that mentoring can make a difference for students who are exposed to unreliable and even risky influences, such as those that push them to abuse drugs, become sexually active too early, experience early pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. Some students may also be exposed to delinquency, truancy and even violence. With the right mentoring programs, exposure of students and other youths from these risks may be reduced or even eliminated.
Implementing mentoring programs in schools
Although recognized as an important part of certain academic processes, mentoring remains as one of the least understood practices in many educational institutions. If not implemented properly, it can become under-utilized, mismanaged or even turn out to be a costly yet ineffective endeavor. To ensure success in the use of mentoring programs in schools, certain considerations must be kept in mind:
Proper planning
The goal of mentoring is to improve student performance in schools and ensure that they are well-prepared for interaction with their social environments. It is important that an organization understands what they wish to attain through their mentoring programs by ensuring that qualitative and quantitative standards are in place.
Goals and objectives of the mentoring program must also be specific and well-structured to allow those implementing it to determine if the procedures are being followed. This is important if compliance is an issue.
Building the core group or staff
A mentoring program within a school will be more effective if a central core of educators is on hand to design, implement and assess it. This will help ensure a well-organized program that is easy to monitor and run.
Recruitment of mentors
The type of mentors to be chosen for the program is indicative of its success. Mentors may be selected through volunteer programs, where other students and even members of the faculty can sign up for the task or through active recruitment wherein mentors may be sought out and asked to join. If necessary, other members of the community may also be tapped.
A set of qualifications may be set in order for mentors to meet quality standards and help streamline the application process.
Screening for mentors
The next step in creating a mentoring program for schools is to screen the mentors for eligibility. After reviewing the applications, the core group can begin interviewing the mentor applicants to determine their fit in the program. This is especially important if there are certain activities that may require extra tasks for the mentors or the mentees. If certain activities off-campus are required, for example, students may have to involve parental permission in order to participate.
Training for mentors
An important part of a mentoring program is mentor training. Just because a person is qualified does not make him a perfect candidate for mentorship. He or she must be able to understand the goals of the program. He must also be informed about certain limitations and boundaries he must work in. Certain communication skills must also be checked or improved if necessary.
Matching mentors with mentees
As one of the final steps for implementing a program for mentoring in schools, pairing mentors with mentees can be a challenge. However, it is important that this is considered carefully. There are no set standards about pairing but most experts suggest it's best to consider personality and mentoring styles in order to create a perfect match. If a certain match proves to be bad, corrections must be implemented immediately.
Of the many programs that have been introduced and integrated in the healthcare practice, mentoring has been one of the most misunderstood and under-utilized. This is unfortunate, considering that healthcare is a sector in many areas of business that has seen an upward growth. Without mentoring, many of the practices and important methods and procedures involved in healthcare may not be maximized at all.
The need for proper mentoring in the healthcare sector
According to registered nurse and author Zardoya Eagles, a mentor can help a healthcare provider prepare himself for public service. A mentor can also help someone in the advancement of his/her career. The human factor, according to Eagles, is one of the best reasons why mentoring should take on more significance in many of today's healthcare settings.
The results of a well-implemented mentoring practice may be difficult to quantify but it is by no means a less important undertaking. It is an acknowledged process that helps improve the processes within an organization and actually leads staff to achieve better results for their efforts, particularly in today's knowledge-based institutions.
Benefits of healthcare mentoring
There are several advantages to ensuring that mentoring resources are provided in healthcare sectors. These include:
- The opportunity for departments within organizations to check flaws in their practices and to improve their services significantly.
- Provide a way for newbies in the industry to develop the necessary skills to work and thrive in the healthcare environment more quickly and efficiently.
- Provide the means with which future leaders within the organization are spotted and developed. Mentors within the organization can also develop their own skills and become highly valued employees.
- Provide a means for the organization to offer a nurturing form of practice to its staff and employees.
- The opportunity to achieve compliance in the industry through the improvement of services.
- Improve the management of hospitals, clinics and other healthcare institutions.
- Develop staff and employee and increase intellectual capital.
Having mentoring practices in place is also an excellent recruitment tool for healthcare institutions and a way to increase positive feedback. It is also a way for institutions to share their knowledge and other important information to help other hospitals improve their own practices and services. Mentoring is also an excellent means to keep updated about the latest practices and developments in the healthcare sector.
Implementing mentoring in an organization
Mentoring may seem like a set of procedures that are simple to implement but it is in fact, a process that might be problematic and counter-productive if not used properly. Some of the most important considerations when implementing mentoring for any organization include:
1) Proper understanding of the goals of the organization, its resources, facilities and manpower.
2) Proper understanding of the interests, goals, expectations and values of the staff.
3) Proper knowledge in the implementation of mentoring activities and procedures that will fit the needs of the organizations and those of the staff concerned.
4) Adequate information about the most successful techniques and methods in mentoring that will help an organization meet its goals.
5) Sufficient knowledge in matching mentors and mentees in order to take advantage of the perfect mentoring relationship.
The healthcare mentoring outlook
Already, the advantages of providing mentoring resources for many members of the healthcare profession have made the practice essential to many of the hospitals in the U.S. The Campaign Mentor Hospitals, for example, is a network of medical institutions small and large, urban and rural that operates throughout the country providing mentoring support in healthcare. Many of these organizations are high-achieving institutions that offer some of the most useful insights that other organizations can integrate into their practices.
Today, mentoring in healthcare continues to expand, undertaken by numerous groups of hospitals throughout the country in order to provide a more effective means to care for and assist clients, develop staff knowledge and skills and improve the practice of healthcare.
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