HOW A MENTOR FACILITATES LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT IN THE CLINICAL SETTING.
This essay is to analyse critically the ways in which a mentor in the clinical environment can empower and assess learning, the responsibilities of a mentor and the mentee, and also to enable me as the mentor to demonstrate relevant professional standards and its implications to practice. As stated by Burns and Paterson (2005), nurses and midwives need to be organised by the higher education institutes or institution (HEI) in collaboration with the National Health Service (NHS) to deal with the difficult nature of clinical placement. This support makes students to become informed, experienced and fit for practice and capable to deliver excellent patient care. It is therefore a necessity that the student nurses are to be supported by knowledgeable, skilled and experienced mentors. The mentor’s role is an important one and should not be taken slightly. It is an honour with much duty as the mentor is responsible for the performance of the mentee and his. It is also an honour as an experienced and skilled nurse to assist the mentee actualizes his dreams and helping them get the most in their education.
Mentor as it implies, refers to one being a supervisor, teacher, adviser, guidance (Morton-Cooper & Palmer, 2004). Also, a mentor is a proficient expert in-charge with instructing, the training, the leadership and assessing of a mentee in practice (Price, 2004). According to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2008), mentors are experts that assist, oversee, empower and evaluate mentees in the care setting and have set values to support learning in clinical setting. A mentor is also a leader because he/she is assigned to guide, teach, motivates and direct others activities to a common goal (Ellis & Hartley, 2000). Furthermore, Jakubic (2004) defined mentoring as evidence- based practice that in instigates self-confidence and improvement and inspires continuous professional development....