Mentoring—the essential connection - President's Message

AORN Journal, March, 2002 by Sheila L. Allen

As a nursing shortage looms and the recruitment and retention crisis expands, we must take responsibility to activate our caring community and strengthen mentoring connections at every level of our profession. This is no longer an option; it has become a necessity. We must develop strategies to create a mentoring culture wherever we work, make mentoring an everyday habit, add mentoring to our research priorities and anecdotal reports, and create innovative leadership development. The development of strong mentoring relationships is a transformational action that will foster our power both individually and professionally. (15)

A recent Gallup poll shows that Americans grant the highest moral prestige to firefighters and nurses. (16) Recent events have reminded us of the five-year-old children we were who wanted to save people and be courageous. They have brought us back to the values we held when our bodies were small and our souls were large. Yet, unlike children who sit in the back seat and ask if we are there yet, we must be responsible adults. (17) We must use the map (ie, the strategies) and drive (ie, take action to become a mentor). I know this is not always easy during the days when your feet ache after a 10-hour procedure, your assignment changes four times in 15 minutes, or your administrator says you must cut costs after you have cut to the bone--but we must. We must take the responsibility to be a part of the solution to the nursing shortage. We must choose to make a difference.

Jamie Collins, RN, shared a poem with me that I share now with you.

   God has' given me a place on earth, to be here for a while. I hope that as
   I'm passing through I will make someone smile. I want to make life easier
   for all the ones' I meet. I ask God for His blessings to the stranger on
   the street. I hope I'll never fail a child if I can help somehow. I want to
   be as' generous as my resources will allow. And when my life on earth is
   done, it will be my final plea: Let someone, somewhere think or say, "You
   made a difference to me." (18)

I encourage all of us to look for the possibilities that lie within us and in others. May our eyes, ears, and hearts be open and willing to share the jewels of our knowledge. Become a mentor and be a part of our future.

God bless America.

President Allen con be contacted by telephone at (303)755-6304 x 311, by e-mail at slallen@eatel.net, or by fox at (425) 740-9269.

Editor's note: The author expresses special thanks to Susan Osborn, AORN librarian, for assistance in locating references. Ms Osborn is the librarian that serves as the custodian of the historical section of AORN's Library and is committed to AORN's history and its members.

NOTES

(1.) E Klein, N Dickenson-Hazard, "The spirit of mentoring," Reflections on Nursing Leadership 26 (Third quarter 2000) 18-22.

(2.) American Heritage Talking Dictionary (Crawley, England: The Learning Company, Inc, 1997).

(3.) B Clemons, Operating Room Nursing and Other Beginnings (Phoenix: B Clemens, 1977).