Having the opportunity to mentor a pre-registration nursing student is one of the most exciting and gratifying aspects of the nursing role. The benefits that can be gained from facilitating and developing the learning of others also provide intrinsic rewards that are unique within our profession. The prospect of being able to supervise, develop and make a lasting contribution to the learning needs of a pre-registration student should be valued as a key and fundamental aspect of your professional standing and career development.

Every qualified nurse has a very unique advantage as they begin their mentoring journey. You will have the advantage of personal, first-hand experience of the mentoring role, as you were once a student yourself (see Activity 1.1). At key stages within your education as a nurse you will have been supervised and perhaps assessed by a mentor. No doubt you will have worked alongside and learnt from many mentors during your training, many of these will have made a valuable contribution to your eventual qualification and a lasting impression on your overall learning experience.

Most of us would agree that during our nurse education we had the privilege of being mentored by a nurse whose care, skill and enthusiasm for their role as a mentor greatly contributed to a valuable learning experience as in Case study 1.1. Perhaps the mentor took time to understand your particular learning needs and then arranged for a broad range of experiences during your practice placement. Perhaps the mentor gave motivating and highly constructive feedback that enabled you to learn and develop additional knowledge and skills.