Efficacy of a Mentoring Program on Nurse Retention and Transition Into Practice

Background: The United States and countries around the world are often faced with a nursing shortage. Studies indicate the reasons for the shortages include low job satisfaction and other factors leading to decreased retention rates. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine if participating in a mentor program impacted the transition into practice and retention rates of new graduate nurses at a small community hospital in northern Indiana. Method: This was a retrospective, descriptive, quasi-experimental study. A total of 20 new graduate nurses were studied to determine whether participation in a mentoring program had any impact on their retention at the facility. The participants who completed the mentoring program were asked to complete a questionnaire which examined their perception of the correlation between their completion of the program and their transition into practice. Results: This study determined that participating in a mentor program impacted the transition into practice and retention rates of new graduate nurses at a small community hospital in northern Indiana. The questionnaire results indicated that participation in the mentoring program helped with the new graduate nurses’ transition into practice. This study was guided by Benner’s novice to expert theory.