Peer Mentorship for the Internationally Educated Nurse: An Appreciative Inquiry

Abstract

Within nursing, mentorship between the graduate and student nurse relationship has been a longstanding strategy to support students' clinical placement knowledge and praxis. More recently, peer mentorship between the student-to-student relationships has gained interest within academic settings. However, this area has little research focusing on mentorship processes and outcomes; particularly those related to Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs) and their transitioning into being a learner within an academic setting while acclimatizing to Canadian life. This exploratory project, using an appreciative inquiry (AI) approach, focuses on the peer-mentorship aspect of the student nurse advocacy program (SNAP) with IENs registered as learners at Langara College in the School of Nursing. Specifically, this research project identifies the strengths and needs of IENs registered in a post-degree certificate program, as well as those of their peer mentors. A purposive sample of eight participants voluntarily enrolled in the project wherein each IEN was paired with a peer mentor from SNAP, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, student. A thematic analysis of data obtained from focus group discussions and a survey questionnaire suggest all participants bring a number of strengths to the mentorship process. Four themes were identified: cultural understanding, trust and support, college integration, and blending of roles. This last theme, blending of roles, provides an alternate view of what is meant by mentorship. Furthermore, the findings suggest key attributes simultaneously support the transition of IENs and build upon the capacities of the peer mentors. Participants identified strategies that can enhance the resources and services provided by SNAP which will inform future IEN education. These strategies and the continued analysis of data will be further explored in phases design and destiny of Appreciative Inquiry (AI) in the next stage of the project.