Date of Completion
Spring 5-16-2022
Document Type
Open Access Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
Faculty Advisor
Manu Thakral, PhD, NP
Site Advisor
Aimee Kleppin, DNP
Second Reader
Lisa Sundean, PhD, RN
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Nurse practitioners (NPs) practicing in retail health face issues that complicate provision of care including isolation, lack of support staff, and non-clinical administrative and business duties. To address this, a national retail health company implemented a mentorship program for newly graduated, newly hired NPs. This quality improvement project will facilitate the implementation and evaluation of this mentorship program in one of the company’s regions in Georgia.
AVAILABLE KNOWLEDGE: Literature suggests that NPs believe that a mentor can help contribute to professional development, counter stress and anxiety, provide support, increase job satisfaction, and guide in critical decision making.
AIMS: 1. Increase newly hired NPs preparedness to practice and confidence to provide healthcare within the retail setting. 2. Increase mentor confidence with mentoring skills. 3. Identify unmet needs as well as evaluate satisfaction with the mentor program.
INTERVENTIONS: The mentorship program was designed to pair newly hired NPs with NPs experienced in the retail health setting for 10 weekly unstructured telephone-based mentoring sessions. Sessions were guided by the mentees’ questions and supplemented with a recommended list of topics relevant to retail health.
RESULTS: Five mentee-mentor pairs were recruited to participate in the program. From pre- to post-intervention, mentees showed an increase in perception of preparedness to practice and confidence in the retail setting and mentors showed an increase in mentor skills. Additionally, seven unmet needs were identified by the mentees including prior authorizations, site specific protocols, internal policies, administrative questions, vaccine information, chart reviews, and clinical guidelines.
CONCLUSION: The mentoring program facilitated successful role transition for NPs by improving perception of preparedness to practice and confidence to provide care in the highly independent and autonomous setting of retail health.
Recommended Citation
Thigpen, Judith, "Mentorship in Retail Health - A Quality Improvement Project Initiative" (2022). Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects. 19.
https://scholarworks.umb.edu/nursing_dnp_capstone/19