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Thursday, September 20, 2012
Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to identify two mentoring activities to empower leadership in the mission field.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to describe mentoring techniques at two levels within academia.
Background/Purpose: The University of Indianapolis conducts healthcare mission trips for faculty and students to the Dominican Republic during Spring Break each year. Faculty work with the missionary organization, SCORE International, to provide this experience to students which is located in the rural villages of the Dominican Republic. In addition to participating in a wide range of healthcare experiences, the students are immersed in the culture of the Dominican Republic. In 2011, the team included undergraduate and graduate nursing students along with one faculty member and three faculty trip leaders. The faculty and trip leaders served as mentors for the registered nurses and students with the goal of fostering healthcare leadership skills. Methods: The registered nurses and faculty member were asked to mentor the nursing students during the healthcare trip. The seasoned faculty leader mentored the new faculty leaders in developing, teaching, and leading a healthcare mission trip. At a later time, the participants of the healthcare mission trip and leaders were asked to describe their experience of the mission trip. The main focus was to assess mentoring, which empowered the participants to develop effective leadership skills. The assessment was obtained through direct and indirect communication with the participants. Conclusion: The results of mentoring experience in empowering future nurses, current nurses, and faculty to become effective leaders in their professional careers will be shared. Empowerment through mentoring develops self-efficacy and self-confidence, which inspires leadership growth within nursing students, peers, and the professional community. Through mentoring, we can grow and strengthen our professional community of nurse leaders.