Strategies to Improve Mentorship Plan: A Qualitative Study

Internship through mentorship method improves clinical education in nursing. Due to numerous problems in implantation process of the mentorship plan, this study aimed to explore and explain strategies to improve the mentorship plan. This qualitative study with content analysis approach was performed in educational hospitals of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences in 2013. Eleven last semester nursing students and six head nurses were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected using semi-structured in depth interview. Interviews were recorded, transcribed and then data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis by Lundman and Graneheim method. Data were classified into three main categories and nine subcategories: mentor-related factors (mentor’s personality traits and capabilities in clinical training); factors related to hospital personnel (justification for mentorship program, nurses as role models, and inter-professional relationship); and management factors (evaluation method, case-based division of labor in nursing, provision of welfare facilities for students, and proper planning for implementation of the internship). The mentorship plan can be enhanced by considering scientific and general qualifications of the mentor, the role of hospital personnel in professionalization of nursing students, and proper management in implementation of internship programs.