• RNAO

• Nursing Innovation Grant

-Knowledge Translation Professional Certificate SickKids (2022)
-Award of Merit Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (2021)
-Keystones of Simulation Certification Simulation Canada (2019)
-Gerontological Nurse Certified Canada Canadian Nurses Association (2019)
-Nursing Registration: 12529784 College of Nurses Ontario (2012 – Present)
-Bachelor of Science in Nursing with Dean’s Honours University of Toronto, Cumulative GPA- 3.72/4 (2012)
-Bachelor of Science: Honours Biopharmaceutical Sciences with Specialization in Medicinal Chemistry University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON Distinction- cum laude (2018)

Our innovation is a recently implemented Nurse Peer Mentorship Program (NPMP) in long-term care (LTC) that our team is seeking to evaluate, enhance and share. This program is a novel approach for LTC organizations to support RNs and RPNs transitioning into new roles. Newly hired RNs/RPNs (mentees) are paired with experienced RN/RPN (mentors) who will support their learning, development and integration into the Perley Health community by sharing knowledge, skills, and best practices. The funding will support us in identifying ways to sustain this innovation. The evaluation and implementation guidelines will support other LTC homes in implementing their own NPMPs.

The NPMP is innovative because it was designed and tailored specifically for LTC. Nursing mentorship programs are well documented in the literature for acute care and community sectors, but relevant LTC research is lacking. Furthermore, environmental scans during the program development showed no similar programs in our networks. In addition to building the program, we integrated this 6-week program into our onboarding pathway, making it mandatory for newly hired RPNs/RNs. Research suggests that the nursing role in Ontario LTC homes is variable and not well defined, making role transition challenging; mentorship can support this (Escrig-pinol et al. 2019). NPMP at orientation ensures that each staff member receives support regardless of their skill levels. Evaluation of the program will lend itself to continuous improvement through direct feedback from participants. Additionally, it will be a valuable contribution to the literature, where similar work is lacking. We plan to develop NPMP guidelines

Our NPMP pilot project suggested that the program better supports newly hired nurses in LTC and facilitates a more welcoming culture of psychological safety, continuous learning and job satisfaction. This is particularly poignant as the pandemic has contributed to high turnover of nurses across Canada, including in LTC, and has led to increased stress and burnout among existing nurses. A formal evaluation of the program would help us better understand the impact of the program and improve it. Considering the constrained resources within the LTC sector, such as staffing and finances, coupled with the demanding workloads of frontline staff, maintaining new programs in LTC is challenging. Support from the RNFOO would enhance sustainability by helping us train and retain mentors. Lastly, our formal evaluation and resulting tools/resources could fill the gap of missing mentorship programs in LTC, with potential to change the onboarding experiences of nurses across this valuable sector.

Our team anticipates the NPMP will have a positive impact on nursing practice, education, and work environment. This program is designed to attract, develop and maintain a strong team of nurse leaders at Perley Health who will promote a culture of psychologically safety, learning, leadership, and innovation. Mentors will benefit from the opportunity to develop their leadership and coaching skills, and significantly contribute to the growth of their peers and cohesiveness of their teams. Mentees will benefit from the ongoing support provided by an experienced mentor over the course of six weeks, ultimately boosting their confidence, building their skills and promoting job satisfaction. Properly training mentors will enhance the quality of the relationship with new hires, maximizing impact of the program. By evaluating and disseminating the program, we hope to raise awareness of the use of NPMP programs to enhance the LTC nursing onboarding experience across the sector.

Since the NPMP pilot has already been implemented, this project would focus on its quality improvement, formal evaluation and dissemination. Currently, the program is introduced to all newly hired RNs/RPNs at the didactic portion of orientation, by Yetunde Temi Adegbunrin (Collaborative Practice Leader), who then pairs them with their mentors and outlines the expectations of the program. Two weeks after pairing, Temi follows up with both participants via email to confirm that the mentor/mentee duo has made contact. Temi, Daniela Acosta (Manager, Education and Knowledge Translation), and Rachel Gibson (Registered Nurse, and BPSO Liaison) will monitor the program. Currently, mentors only get just-in-time training. With the support of the RNFOO funding, our plan is to host 4-hour trainings for 20 mentors within the home, to give a more theoretical foundation on effective mentorship. Furthermore, we would use this opportunity to co-create a more meaningful and sustainable way of maintaining a dedicated mentor pool, especially looking at ways to avoid burnout for our mentors. This dedicated time to explore these issues would help us overcome a major anecdotal barrier of maintaining mentors. Once a better process is determined for mentor recruitment we would work in collaboration with our communications team to promote the program among experienced nurses to encourage staff to volunteer for open mentor positions.

To evaluate and further improve the experiences of the mentors and mentees, our team has collaborated with the Centre of Excellence in Frailty-Informed Care™ at Perley Health to develop a program evaluation survey. The survey will be administered to mentors and mentees at the six-week mark following completion of the mentorship program. This formal evaluation will provide insights into the program’s strengths and weaknesses, identify areas for improvement, and help Perley Health tailor future iterations of the program to better meet the needs of both mentees and mentors. The survey is completely voluntary and staff who choose to provide feedback will receive a 5$ voucher to the cafeteria. Through this evaluation, our team will be able improve the mentorship program to better support our nursing team and clearly demonstrate the positive impact participation in a NPMP has on staff.

Lastly, and most excitedly, our team will use our experiential and evaluation results to develop guidelines and tools so other LTC homes can replicate and implement similar programs to develop capacity within their homes. We plan to engage external stakeholders through our knowledge translation networks and include it in our knowledge translation hub webpage and dissemination activities.

In conclusion, funding from the RNFOO would support our team to better prepare new nurses coming into LTC, improving their experience and retention, with the added potential of positively influencing the nursing onboarding experience across the sector. Improving nursing capacity and experience will enhance the care experiences of residents living in LTC.

Reference
Escrig-Pinol, A., Hempinstall, M., & McGilton, K. S. (2019). Unpacking the multiple dimensions and levels of responsibility of the charge nurse role in long‐term care facilities. International journal of older people nursing, 14(4), e12259.

Daniela Acosta, RN, GNC(C), Manager of Education and Knowledge Translation
Yetunde Temi Adegbunrin, RN, MSN, Collaborative Practice Leader
Rachel Gibson, RN, CHPCN(C), Registered Nurse and BPSO Liaison