New nurse graduates and rapidly changing clinical situations: the role of expert critical care nurse mentors.

Objectives: New nurse graduates may be prone to instances of failure to rescue. Mentoring programs may be an opportunity to assist them with clinical decision making in situations of patient decline. We explored the experiences of new nurse graduates and expert nurses after participation in a mentoring program.

Methods: In this exploratory-descriptive study, five seasoned nurses were paired with five new nurse graduates. After four months, the new nurse graduates were interviewed, and the expert nurses participated in a focus group.

Results: Themes emerged for the new nurse graduates: 1) importance of the charge nurse, 2) differences in practice areas, and 3) supportive healthcare teams. The focus group revealed three themes: 1) remembering what it was like, 2) desiring to help, and 3) having confidence in their preparation as mentors.

Conclusions: New nurse graduates relied on charge nurses for assistance. Therefore, it is imperative that charge nurses receive adequate support.