Chapter 1 - LEADING BY EXAMPLE

Chapter 1

Stories of Mentoring

MY FIRST LOVE WAS CARDIOLOGY…
But my is education!

My journey as an RN began almost 43 years ago when I received a BSN. I have worked in the med-surg, oncology, ortho, and cardiac care units. My first love was cardiology, but my passion is education. To see a new grad finally show confidence in their daily practice makes me proud. I had a new graduate who had to put in an NG tube for the first time. We practiced in the skills lab and I remember telling her, “You got this!” She went in and dropped the NG tube like an old pro — it was a great moment for both of us.

Patients need to be treated with a holistic approach and not as a diagnosis. The educational opportunities I create are based on this approach.

Working in a smaller hospital requires me to wear several hats. I am also stroke coordinator. I go to each stroke alert to support not only the staff but the patient as well. Over the course of months and much education and training, I can see how the staff has mastered what to do when a stroke patient comes thru the ER doors. It has become a seamless process, and I am proud to say we have recently received our recertification as a primary stroke center.

Our hospital is also a Certified Chest Pain Center and I get to use my cardiology skills running mock STEMI codes at my hospital and other hospitals within our system. These mock codes teach residents and nurses what to do when a patient presents with chest pain. Time is muscle with these patients and having well-versed nurses is imperative to the patient’s well-being. Patients need to be treated with a holistic approach and not as a diagnosis. The educational opportunities I create are based on this approach.

My very satisfying work currently includes teaching graduate nursing students and conducting clinical and community-based research among persons with dementia.

Ann Mayo, DNSc, RN, FAAN
Behavioral Neurology
San Diego, CA

Generating new knowledge, policy and leadership over the decades has given us a proud heritage. The future of nursing leadership is full of anticipation and optimism. Nursing is illuminating the path for health and wellness for our communities.

Marian Shughnessy, DNP, MSN, RN

I hope to inspire and encourage Black and other minority nursing students

I am currently a postdoctoral research fellow and per diem labor and delivery nurse, but my ultimate professional goal is to work as a tenured nursing professor and a women’s health nurse practitioner.

As a PhD-prepared nurse, I serve as a mentor and role model to my students and peers. I did not know any Black registered nurses when I decided to become a nurse, nor did I have any Black professors during my BSN or PhD programs. This lack of racial and cultural representation — not my passion for teaching — was the strongest motivating factor for my desire to become a nursing professor.

Black nurses currently represent less than 7% of U.S. nurse practitioners and CNMs (Data USA, 2018) and less than 9% of full-time U.S. nursing faculty (National League for Nursing, 2017).

My professional goals meet two desires: one for my own career satisfaction and the other for the optimal health and wellness of my community. I hope to create a synergy that culminates in an effective fight against health disparities among vulnerable women.

Beth Bailey, Assistant
Professor of Nursing

Bethel University, Indiana

THE BIG SECRET

is to focus on future nurse leaders.

Through all my years of nursing I have become a more conscious baby boomer nurse director, who realizes the big secret is to focus on the future nurse leadership who will oversee maintaining our legacy. That is the reason why I encourage and empower millennial nurses to show us their talent and begin a new era with their inspiration and strength. Creating a new way to develop one’s nursing career will help us to amplify each other and give the best to patients.

Lacey Naematullah, BSN, RN

NURSE AND SPONSORED CAPELLA UNIVERSITY MSN STUDENT

Getting support through mentorship not only helps you to feel more confident in this crazy transition, but it also helps you to educate others on the importance of community. That’s why I founded The Empowered Nurse, LLC, a mentorship program that helps new grad nurses who are transitioning from student to nurse. Oftentimes, I find that new grads feel very isolated when they are starting on their own in a unit, because they aren't typically starting with a ton of other new grads that they're seeing all of the time. This community has helped new grads to develop an understanding of the fact that they are not in this process alone and they are not the only ones that don't know it all. That is such a comforting feeling.

This community has helped new grads to develop an understanding of the fact that they are not in this process alone…

I’m now getting my master’s at Capella University and that has really helped me to strengthen the foundation of this mentorship program. I'm able to do research and really develop and understand more about what it is new grads need in order to improve the outcomes of our health care system in general.

Sharing of knowledge, compassion, and experiences. I thank my coworkers, patients, and educators for supporting me in my education journey. I hope I am doing them justice in my practice of educating new nurses, patients, and my peers.

Cynthia Palmer
DNP, MSN, RN-BC, C-OB, C-EFM