In nursing, mentoring seems to be a good method to provide a newcomer’s orientation. The study shows how significant role the mentor plays in international nurses’ work orientation and organizational entry. Participants’
experiences about their work orientation included strongly stories about their mentors. A conclusion can be drawn that mentors’ input can make a difference to international nurses’ work orientation.
Usually nurses worked together with the mentor in the beginning of work orientation. When working more independently, mentors stayed in a background or worked on their own tasks. Either way, mentors were available to help when needed. Mentors but also other colleagues participated in work orientation by giving advice, showing around, and sharing information and experiences. In particular, a mentor was often someone to talk to and get support from. Juusela et al. (2000) claim that as a method, mentoring is a series of processes that contributes to developing a relationship, its actions, and support. They note that the mentor invests time, knowledge and effort to increase the mentee’s development, knowledge, and skills. It can be also concluded that mentors can influence newcomers’ workplace adjustment.
Grossman (2007) argues that nursing needs to develop a mentoring culture where all nurses can experience being a part of a collaborative network that fosters partnering with others. Grossman note that it would be beneficial for nurses to have a mentoring culture with the new mentoring models such as peer and multiple mentoring. Derungs (2011) suggests that a good implementation of mentoring system creates the foundation of continuous improvement in the organization. Clutterbuck (2004) states that getting the best
outcome from mentoring involves building the best aspects of both formal and informal approaches. On the one hand, a formal structure is essential since it provides meaning and direction for relationships and support when necessary.
On the other hand, individual relationships will flourish best when allowed to operate as informally as possible. Clutterbuck notes that successful formal relationships often go on to become successful informal ones. Mentors can become international nurses’ support network and eventually also friends.
Implementing a good mentoring program for international nurses can facilitate work orientation and workplace adjustment. This would be efficient especially when a health care organization recruits a larger number of international nurses.
Murphy and Ensher (1997) suggest that organizations should provide a training to support cross-cultural or cross-national mentoring. They recommend that training content should focus on four areas which are understanding cultural differences that may affect the perceptions of another person’s behavior, increasing communication skills and the ability to understand how culture may contribute to ineffective communication, encouraging mentors and mentees to set ground rules that are relevant to open communication and lastly, providing opportunities for the mentor to actively solicit feedback from the mentee. In addition, they believe that it would be beneficial for organizations to support various confirmations of mentoring through formal programs and reward systems. To ensure cross-national mentoring relationships thrive in the organization, Murphy and Ensher highlight the importance of an environment that values and rewards these relationships. They claim that organizations that provide a supportive
environment for mentoring relationships can maximize their diverse human potential, without alienating a majority or showing preference to a minority.
Koskinen and Tossavainen (2003) studied Finnish preceptors’ and British undergraduate nursing students’ mentor-student relationships during international placement in Finland from mentors’ perspective. According to the study, a good relationship assisted the students to cross the language barrier and to learn about the Finnish culture while the negative aspect of intercultural mentoring seemed to be connected with the sense of one’s incapability to assist the student’s intercultural adjustment in case the student is not mature and motivated enough to cope with intercultural differences and the language barrier. Therefore, mentors can support newcomers in learning and adjusting to the new workplace if newcomers are open to their guidance and knowledge. In the study of Koskinen and Tossavainen, relationships extended beyond a regular mentorship but mentors felt being left alone with their mentoring tasks both by the rest of the staff and the host teachers. This can therefore result to be a stressful situation for mentors. Mentors need support from the employer in order to have enough resources and time to guide the newcomer.
Deciding the right, suitable mentor for the newcomer is a crucial decision that a superior has to make in order to provide a suitable work orientation for the newcomer. Clutterbuck (2004) points out that formal mentoring helps to recognize mentors that are not suitable for being in a mentor role. From this standpoint, health care organizations that use mentoring would benefit from a formal mentoring program and it would help deciding right mentors for foreign newcomers.
It can be beneficial if the mentor possesses some previous working experience in other countries or has a good working knowledge of English language so that the newcomer can ask about unclear issues in English which can be one of the ways to decrease the level of uncertainty. Mentors’ previous experience in mentoring international nurses can be very useful. A mentor’s skills in intercultural mentoring therefore are advantageous for both mentors themselves but also for newcomers.