Poster Presentation
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
9:45 AM - 11:00 AM
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
1:00 PM - 2:15 PM
The Role of Mentoring in Developing African American Nurse Leaders
Jacqueline J. Hill, PhD, RN, MSN, BSN, Nursing, Southern University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA
| Learning Objective #1: identify the overall benefits of mentoring. |
| Learning Objective #2: identify attributes that attract mentees to mentors. |
The purpose of this study was to explore the role of mentoring in the development of African American nurses who have achieved leadership positions in baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs. The study also explored the similar and dissimilar mentoring experiences in same-race versus cross-race mentoring relationships. Daniel Levinson’s adult developmental theory served as the theoretical framework. Utilizing a sequential mixed design, 47 African American nurse leaders participated in Phase I, and 10 of the 47 were interviewed in Phase II. The findings showed that mentoring plays a role in the personal and professional development of African American nurse leaders in baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs. Moreover, the relevance of race varies in both same-race and cross-race mentoring relationships. Research of this nature is important because it has the potential to influence nursing practice by increasing the number of African American nurses who are mentored for leadership positions. In a profession where minority registered nurses are disproportionate represented, the findings from this study have prodigious implications.