The idea of mentoring - a seasoned employee showing a new hire the ropes - isn't new in nursing. Older nurses have taken young recruits under their wings and guided their progress since the profession began.

Recently, more hospitals have seen the value of establishing formal mentoring programs. Experts say that mentors help address the challenges of a diverse workplace, help workers adjust and feel included, grow future leaders and share organizational knowledge - all while reducing training costs.

The International Mentoring Association says mentoring also increases employee retention and performance. Retention and performance are hot-button issues in health care systems facing nursing shortages.

While hospitals view mentoring as having a positive effect on the work force and the bottom line, many new nurses see it as a lifeline.

Judi Armstrong, RNC, had been a nurse for 18 years when she took a job in Northside Hospital's labor and delivery department. Wanting to be closer to where her grown children live, Armstrong moved from a hospital in Bowling Green, Ky., which delivered about 100 babies a year. Northside delivers 50 to 75 babies a day, ranging from normal, healthy babies to high-risk births.

"Every hospital has it own culture and way of doing things," Armstrong said. "Try getting to know 200 doctors and 300 staff people and not being able to find anything you need ... The move was so much harder than I had expected. Sheri, my mentor, made all the difference. I would not have stayed without her."

Sheri Eschenfelder, RNC, a traveling nurse who commutes from Tennessee each week to work in the labor and delivery department, understands how the pace can make a nurse want to give up. Her mentor listened and supported her, which is why Eschenfelder chose to help someone else.

"When I thought I couldn't do it, she told me I could. She gave me a feeling of connection and reminded me that we're all in this together," Eschenfelder said.

"I believe in the mentoring program. It helps you to .nd friendships, kinships and commonalities that make your job doable."

"When Sheri comes in, it lifts my whole day," Armstrong said. "Her cool, slow guidance has really helped. Encouraging is her gift."

Eschenfelder listened to Armstrong's struggles in the labor holding area - where nurses sort quickly through multiple priorities - and encouraged her to take an assessment class to brush up on skills.

"She said it would help with the stress, and it did," Armstrong said. "Time and again, she helped me stand back, take a deep breath and see what I needed to do."

Along the way, the two became friends - sharing breakfasts, funny cards and stories - and Armstrong realized that she was confident and comfortable in her new job.

"I don't know how they put these mentoring teams together, but however it has evolved, it's pretty amazing," Armstrong said.

Mentoring at Northside Hospital started in 2001, because former CEO Sidney Kirschner had a passion for wanting new hires to have a great experience, said Cynthia Gist, employee relations coordinator, who works with the mentoring program. The program has grown so large that now there are 57 mentor coordinators who supervise five or more mentors.

Gist, who came to Northside from the banking industry, said seeing her mentor waiting outside the door at orientation reinforced the feeling that she had made the right career decision.

Mentors are volunteers who represent the hospital's "service excellence behaviors" and have leadership qualities.

"They need good listening skills - to be inviting, encouraging and comfortable sharing their own experiences," Gist said. Mentors go through training and are pinned in a ceremony.

"The ideal situation is to pair people from the same department and to check in 60 days to see if it's a good fit," Gist said. "I was comfortable asking my mentor anything, and she has been instrumental in my success here."

Getting a good start
Piedmont Hospital started its mentoring program two years ago to encourage newly graduated nurses.

"The first six months on the job are the hardest for a nurse," said Judy Murray, nursing support coordinator. "Suddenly, they no longer have an instructor backing them up. They realize that they're 'the nurse' and that they have full responsibility for their patients.

"At the same time, they have to learn hospital policies and procedures, time management - it's extremely stressful."

With a little nurturing, new nurses can make it, and Murray enjoys seeing them blossom.

Piedmont's volunteer program pairs new graduates who want to participate with mentors from different departments. A preceptor from the new hire's department makes sure the new nurse understands hospital documentation, policies and resources. The mentor's role is to help the protégé realize his or her full potential by serving as a counselor and sounding board.

Mentors are selected based on written applications and letters of recommendation. They receive training, support and a monthly newsletter of tips.

"When I heard about the program, I thought it was a wonderful way to encourage new nurses. They didn't have that kind of program when I graduated 29 years ago," said Brenda Gunter, RN, CMSRN, who works on Piedmont's medsurgery floor. "Not that I know all the answers, but I can make myself available and listen. I see myself as a friend and a cheerleader."

Leslie DeLay, RN, BSN, who works in a coronary care unit, said Gunter's notes of encouragement and timely visits to bring coffee, muffins and hugs were exactly what she needed.

"Health care is so fast-paced and so scary. Just looking up and seeing her face after you've done CPR on someone or you've had a bad night means so much," DeLay said. "It's like having a secret buddy who will let you vent and help you work through things. Most people don't want to hear blow-by-blow of a 12-hour shift. Brenda does, so I don't have to take it home. She's probably saved my marriage."

DeLay said that plenty of people jump into the pressure cooker of critical care and jump right out again because of the stress. Gunter has helped her weather the transition.

"I've proved myself now, and I love my job at Piedmont," DeLay said.

Training mentors
At St. Joseph's/Candler of Savannah, mentoring is an intense, three-month training relationship that covers the basics of orientation, precepting and rolemodeling. Mentors go through classes to learn how to teach and give good feedback.

"It kind of slows you down in the beginning - having to explain things and step back and let them do it, but then you've got four hands instead of two, and after a few weeks, you work well together," said Trish Haselden, ADN.

When she started nursing 12 years ago, St. Joseph's/Candler didn't let new graduates start in the emergency room because of the pace and variety of medical conditions that occur there.

.You never know what's coming through the door. You just know you have to be ready. It takes an adrenaline junkie to work in the ER,. Haselden said.

Thanks to Haselden's mentoring skills, Aimee Exley, RN, has worked in the ER since graduating in 2003 and is now mentoring others.

Haselden taught her a "packet of skills" and how to think on a higher level. "She was so patient and helped me see the steps of what I needed to do," Exley said. "At first I couldn't think that quickly, but she taught me to break down the process."

After the dust would settle from a case, Haselden would help her see what went well and what she could have done better - "always in a caring way," Exley said. Knowing that Haselden was 15 years older and had experience working in many areas of the hospital, Exley was eager to listen and learn.

"She was someone I could look up to and confide in. We'd eat our lunch outside and talk about the stresses of the job. It would have been really rough in the ER without someone there to help me," Exley said. "We still hang out together."

"Aimee is a fantastic nurse, and I've watched her come out of her shell and blossom," Haselden said. "It's so rewarding to see that."