Registered Nurse: A Case Study

When my clinical preceptor accepted the position of Operating Room (OR) Manager at Lakeland Hospital in St. Joe last year, there were 15 open Registered Nurse (RN) positions. It has been a continuous challenge to hire, train and maintain the nursing staff in the unit, especially with the six month training period that is required for this particular specialty. It has been a long process to fill these positions and although there are currently 19 RNs that work on the unit, there are still four open RN positions that remain vacant. This comes as a huge expense to the hospital as they are forced to use travel agency staff to fill these positions.
According to the OR manager, greater than 50% of her staff have worked on the unit less than 5 years.

The mentee will be responsible for completing the Mentoring Meeting Agenda. This tool will establish the meeting goals, topics to discuss, meeting accomplishments, and tentative goals, as well as, the date and time of the next meeting. The mentee will also complete the Mentor Evaluation Form in which they will rate their experience with their mentor. Together the mentor and mentee will complete an individualized Mentoring Program Plan to determine their goals, expectations, communication agreement, and evaluation timeframe. This tool will help determine periodic points at which to discuss the progress of the mentoring program, the relationship, and an opportunity to renegotiate the plan as

I do believe that the OR manager and myself have developed a realistic and thorough plan for the success of the mentoring program. However, there are a variety of potential problems that could still occur. These might include a personality conflict between the mentor and mentee, lack of commitment to sustain the relationship, differences in communication styles, failures by association and finally an intentional sabotage to the success of the mentee. Should any signs of these problems develop, it is recommended that both the mentor and mentee confront the situation directly and participate in a plan for resolution or dissolution. As recommended by the AMSN, “prior to entering into a mentoring relationship, both parties should agree to a no-fault separation if one or both individuals realize the relationship is not working effectively” (2012, p. 9). Additionally, I would recommend that the OR manager consider having both the mentor and mentee complete a personality test in order to assist in matching both parties with the most compatible