Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1533298
21 NURSING SPOTLIGHT A group mentoring blueprint for nurses By Mariah Taylor S aint Joseph Hospital in Denver is expanding its nurse group mentoring program aer it helped raise the retention rate of new nurses to 97%. e program began in 2023 aer the pandemic shied the workforce at the hospital, which is part of Salt Lake City- based Intermountain Health. By 2022, up to 80% of nurses had less than two years of experience. e change made it difficult to do one-on-one mentoring, so the system pivoted to a group model. "e program is based on the transition shock model, and our nursing professional development practitioners initially served as mentors," Lillian Donnelly, MSN, RN, program manager of nursing professional development for the hospital. "ese practitioners already had the professional qualifications, communication skills and experience to guide new nurses effectively. ey led group mentoring sessions on new graduate nurse education days in a classroom setting." Aer gathering feedback from the groups, the program has shied to peer mentors instead of nursing professional development mentors. e system also incorporates in- person skill days, evidence-based practice projects with presentations, gamification and interactive activities, and group mentoring with experienced nurses. "Studies have shown that mentoring increases job satisfaction, reduces turnover, and encourages career planning — especially for new graduate nurses," Sarah Andre, DNP, RN, nurse residency program coordinator at the hospital, told Becker's. "e group dynamic in mentoring provides a collaborative learning environment, emotional support and knowledge sharing. Anytime you foster support and learning, it naturally improves retention." Sessions are held for one hour once every other month through a 12-month period. During mentoring sessions, mentors listen to challenges, facilitate supportive discussions and ensure a psychologically safe space for open conversation. During months without scheduled meetings, mentors connect with their mentees via texts. Mentors do not only help mentees with challenges; they help new graduates complete a profile sheet on their first day, discuss habit-forming goals, build trust with colleagues and check in on well-being. Since implementing group mentoring in 2023, first-year retention rate for new graduates rose from about 80% to 97%. Running the program On the back end, Dr. Andre and Ms. Donnelly do a few things to keep the mentorship program running smoothly. ey schedule meetings and arrange logistics, and they standardized mentor memos and evaluations, created training resources such as microlearning modules and online courses, and structured discussion guides. Aer every session, they also help mentors complete memos, and conduct midpoint and end-of- program evaluations. Aer reviewing those evaluations, they decide what adjustments to make. e future of the program Dr. Andre and Ms. Donnelly said there are a few improvements coming to the program soon. • Expanding the program to two years instead of one. • Assigning two mentors per group. • Surveying new graduates about the discussion topics they find most valuable. • Maintaining a focus on self-care and well-being in new nurses. "We recognize that this is a new generation of nurses, and we must adapt our programs to meet their evolving needs," Ms. Donnelly said. n Nurse staffing lags at hospitals with more Black patients: Study By Mariah Taylor A recent study led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia found that nurse staffing rates are worse in hospitals with the highest percentage of Black patients. The study, published Jan. 2 in Nursing Research, analyzed the nurse staffing rate at 574 hospitals using the 2015 annual registered nurse survey conducted in National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators hospitals. The hospitals' patient population were classified as low, medium or high percentages of patients of Black race using the 2019 Medicare Provider Analysis and Review database. The study found that nursing staffing was worse in high-Black-serving hospitals compared to medium- and low-Black- serving facilities. Researchers adjusted the data for unit type and found hospitals with high and medium Black patient populations also had 6% more patients- per-nurse than low-Black-serving hospitals. It was worse for academic medical centers and for hospitals in metropolitan areas where patient ratios were 7% higher. The study authors said nurse staffing distribution may have worsened during the pandemic. "It's particularly concerning because seven out of 10 Black patients are hospitalized in Black-serving hospitals, so there's really a population implication for the Black patient population," study author Eileen Lake, PhD, RN, a Penn nursing professor and associate director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, said in a system news release. The authors provided two potential policy solutions: • Black patients can seek out better- staffed hospitals • Improve staffing at Black-serving hospitals n