Abstract
Purpose: Job satisfaction is a predictor of nursing turnover and intent to stay. New nurses are especially vulnerable to turnover during their first year creating a significant barrier to building the nursing workforce. Research shows reasons contributing to the high attrition rates of new nurses include a lack of confidence, an inability to cope with work-related stress and a decreased sense of belonging. Several studies have shown that mentorship promotes personal and professional development, increases learning, and builds confidence. The goal of implementing a mentorship program is to create a culture of support for nurse residents resulting in increased job satisfaction.
Description: This quality improvement (QI) project is an evaluation of mentee satisfaction after implementing a new program designed to mentor nurse residents. The program recruited mentors through an interest survey made public to all hospital nurses through the hospital daily announcements webpage. The mentors and mentees both received training modules and an About Me form. The About Me forms were utilized to match the mentor and mentee from information they listed on the form. Resources available to matches included access to Microsoft Teams chat and month seminar worksheets. The program was launched in October 2022 at a meeting that provided the following program expectations: monthly 30-minute meetings and documentation of the conversation on the seminar worksheet. The launch announced the matches in-person during a 15-minute overview of the program which set program expectations. To evaluate the effectiveness of this new program, data was obtained and analyzed from 3 surveys. The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN) Mentee Program Satisfaction Survey data and the AMSN Mentee Assessment of Relationship with Mentor Survey data were a one-group posttest only. The AMSN Job Satisfaction Survey data was also a one group posttest design but with data obtained at two timepoints for comparison.
Evaluation outcome: Thirty-five nurse residents enrolled in the nurse residency program. Twenty-seven completed both the pre-and-post job satisfaction survey as well as the demographic, mentee relationship with mentor and mentorship program satisfaction surveys resulting in a 77% participant retention rate for the project. A large statistically significance increase in satisfaction was associated with the questions in the category of perceptions of work [“workload” (p = 0.03, A = 5.0)] and work conditions [“tension/pressure” (p = 0.02, A = 6.0); “on-job stress” (p = 0.03, A = 4.6)]. There was no statistically significant increase in satisfaction associated with the remaining questions in the perception of work nor in work conditions categories. The other five categories had no statistically significant increase in job satisfaction. Although not statistically significant, 16-questions of the 26-question job satisfaction survey showed an increase in satisfaction. In examining post survey results for assessment of the relationship with the mentor, the overall mean score for the group was 97.63 indicating moderate satisfaction with the mentor relationship. The post survey results for the mentoring program satisfaction survey indicates the overall mean score for the group was 39.00 indicating a high satisfaction with the program.
Notes
References:
Brook, J., Aitken, L., Webb, R., MacLaren, J., & Salmon, D. (2019). Characteristics of successful interventions to reduce turnover and increase retention of early career nurses: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 91, 47–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.11.003
Jones S. J. (2017). Establishing a nurse mentor program to improve nurse satisfaction and intent to stay. Journal for Nurses in Professional Development, 33(2), 76–78. https://doi.org/10.1097/NND.0000000000000335
Kakyo, T. A., Xiao, L. D., & Chamberlain, D. (2022). Benefits and challenges for hospital nurses engaged in formal mentoring programs: A systematic integrated review. International Nursing Review, 69(2), 229–238. https://doi.org/10.1111/inr.12730
Kramer, D. S., McCue, V. Y., Butler, E., Prentiss, A. S., Ojeda, M. M., Tugg, K. K., Fuentes, V., & Bonet, S. (2021). The art of nurse mentoring: A framework of support. Nursing & Health Sciences Research Journal, 4(1), 16–25. https://doi-org/10.55481/2578-3750.1097
Miller, C., Wagenberg, C., Loney, E., Porinchak, M., & Ramrup, N. (2020). Creating and implementing a nurse mentoring program: A Team Approach. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 50(6), 343–348. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000895
Van Patten, R. R., & Bartone, A. S. (2019). The impact of mentorship, preceptors, and debriefing on the quality of program experiences. Nurse Education in Practice, 35, 63–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nepr.2019.01.007
Williams, F. S. (2018). New nurse graduate residency mentoring: A retrospective cross-sectional research study. Nursing Economic$, 36(3), 121–127.
Sigma Membership
Alpha Alpha Iota
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Quality Improvement
Research Approach
Other
Keywords:
New Graduate Nurses, Personnel Turnover, Personnel Retention, Mentorship, Job Satisfaction
Recommended Citation
Hoehne, Jessica, "Nurse Resident Job Satisfaction With a Formal Mentorship Program" (2026). Creating Healthy Work Environments (CHWE). 95.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/chwe/2024/presentations_2024/95
Conference Name
Creating Healthy Work Environments
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Washington, DC, USA
Conference Year
2024
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-03-03
Funder(s)
Sigma Theta Tau International. Alpha Iota Chapter
Nurse Resident Job Satisfaction With a Formal Mentorship Program
Washington, DC, USA
Purpose: Job satisfaction is a predictor of nursing turnover and intent to stay. New nurses are especially vulnerable to turnover during their first year creating a significant barrier to building the nursing workforce. Research shows reasons contributing to the high attrition rates of new nurses include a lack of confidence, an inability to cope with work-related stress and a decreased sense of belonging. Several studies have shown that mentorship promotes personal and professional development, increases learning, and builds confidence. The goal of implementing a mentorship program is to create a culture of support for nurse residents resulting in increased job satisfaction.
Description: This quality improvement (QI) project is an evaluation of mentee satisfaction after implementing a new program designed to mentor nurse residents. The program recruited mentors through an interest survey made public to all hospital nurses through the hospital daily announcements webpage. The mentors and mentees both received training modules and an About Me form. The About Me forms were utilized to match the mentor and mentee from information they listed on the form. Resources available to matches included access to Microsoft Teams chat and month seminar worksheets. The program was launched in October 2022 at a meeting that provided the following program expectations: monthly 30-minute meetings and documentation of the conversation on the seminar worksheet. The launch announced the matches in-person during a 15-minute overview of the program which set program expectations. To evaluate the effectiveness of this new program, data was obtained and analyzed from 3 surveys. The Academy of Medical-Surgical Nurses (AMSN) Mentee Program Satisfaction Survey data and the AMSN Mentee Assessment of Relationship with Mentor Survey data were a one-group posttest only. The AMSN Job Satisfaction Survey data was also a one group posttest design but with data obtained at two timepoints for comparison.
Evaluation outcome: Thirty-five nurse residents enrolled in the nurse residency program. Twenty-seven completed both the pre-and-post job satisfaction survey as well as the demographic, mentee relationship with mentor and mentorship program satisfaction surveys resulting in a 77% participant retention rate for the project. A large statistically significance increase in satisfaction was associated with the questions in the category of perceptions of work [“workload” (p = 0.03, A = 5.0)] and work conditions [“tension/pressure” (p = 0.02, A = 6.0); “on-job stress” (p = 0.03, A = 4.6)]. There was no statistically significant increase in satisfaction associated with the remaining questions in the perception of work nor in work conditions categories. The other five categories had no statistically significant increase in job satisfaction. Although not statistically significant, 16-questions of the 26-question job satisfaction survey showed an increase in satisfaction. In examining post survey results for assessment of the relationship with the mentor, the overall mean score for the group was 97.63 indicating moderate satisfaction with the mentor relationship. The post survey results for the mentoring program satisfaction survey indicates the overall mean score for the group was 39.00 indicating a high satisfaction with the program.
Description
Job satisfaction is a predictor of nursing turnover and intent to stay. New nurses are especially vulnerable to turnover during their first year, creating a barrier to building the nursing workforce. A mentorship program was launched to provide support and sense of belonging. It demonstrated an increase in job satisfaction.