In this step you will be asked a few questions about what interests you and what you hope to gain from mentoring. This will help us determine a best fit for you.
The NurseMentor coordinator will match you with a compatible mentor or mentee when one becomes available, and you will be notified.
Student mentees should initiate the first contact with their mentor. Pairs determine how and when to connect - ideally, two contacts per month. Good communication is the key to a successful mentorship.
Nursing is a network. In practice, nurses support each other, guide each other and help each other learn and grow. The expertise and guidance that registered nurses are able to provide is invaluable to students, new graduates and colleagues.
In 2014, the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary identified the need to develop and maintain strong links with nurse alumni.
Over the next two years, the faculty reached out to alumni – through dinners, newsletters and events like the Marguerite Schumacher Memorial Alumni Lecture – to explore ways that alumni would like to engage with the university and with current nursing students.
Overwhelmingly, alumni stated their interest in mentoring students and in sharing some of the wisdom they had accrued through their personal and professional lives.
In 2016, the faculty began to research online platforms that would help make a nursing mentorship initiative simple and effective. We wanted a platform that would allow students and RNs with different schedules, but a shared interest in mentorship, to connect.
The university already had developed and established an online mentorship program called Cybermentor through the Schulich School of Engineering.
The program was found to use a site that closely mirrored the identified needs for an online platform for nursing mentorship, and we set out to reconfigure this online platform to meet the needs of nursing students and alumni.
In 2017, the NurseMentor pilot program was officially launched, with an initial cohort of 15 mentors and mentees.
In its second year, the program grew exponentially to 110 participants, including both early stage and graduating students paired with talented nurses across all disciplines.
The mission of NurseMentor is to foster the career development of undergraduate nursing students at the University of Calgary and provide an opportunity for alumni to share their accumulated wisdom with student nurses.
Broadening students’ knowledge of career pathways, opportunities and options within nursing in an environment of mutual learning and support.
The coordinator facilitates ongoing mentoring relationships between nursing alumni and current students.