Paper
Friday, 21 July 2006
This presentation is part of : Transformational Learning: Nurturing the Second Career Student
Nurturing Second Career Student Collaboration through Peer to Peer Mentoring
Grace Moorefield, MSN, RN, CS and Patricia Frohock Hanes, RN, MSN, MAEd. School of Nursing, Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, CA, USA
Background:  Second career students are highly motivated and want to participate in their learning. Yet limited information is available to harness these characteristics to foster student collaboration to succeed in demanding accelerated master’s entry into nursing programs. 

Purpose: This presentation describes the SCAN program’s peer-to-peer mentoring and its preliminary outcomes. Conceptual Framework: This study uses the Transformative Learning Model as its organizing framework. Peer mentoring is defined as an ongoing formal or informal collaboration, in groups of two or more, between and among student peers. 

Research Questions:

  1. Who do second career students regard as their primary peer mentors?
  2. Whom do they prefer to mentor as well as be mentored by?
  3. What are the characteristics of students chosen as primary peer mentors, preferred mentees, and preferred mentors? 

Methods:

Twenty-four second career students completed a battery of measures during orientation including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the StrengthsFinder. During their first course, students formed peer-to-peer mentor groups after which they were surveyed to determine who they viewed as primary peer mentors and preferred peer mentors and peer mentees. Outcomes of peer-to-peer mentorship will be assessed at the end of prelicensure courses and at the end of graduate studies using focus groups. The focus groups will elicit how the students value peer-to-peer mentoring, how it facilitated or hindered their educational progression, and what support they need when valued peers unexpectedly leave the program.

Results and Implications: A graphic sociometric analysis will show the student preferences for primary peer mentors, preferred mentees, and preferred mentors. These preferences will be linked to the student characteristics as indicated by the MBTI and StrengthsFinder. Both students and faculty report that these students have a strong sense of cohesion and collaboration. Focus groups will provide additional information on how to foster peer-to-peer mentoring.

See more of Transformational Learning: Nurturing the Second Career Student
See more of The 17th International Nursing Research Congress Focusing on Evidence-Based Practice (19-22 July 2006)