It was huge! Nursing students' first experience at AORN Congress

AORN Journal,  Jan, 2004  by Michelle Byrne,  Kelly Cantrell,  Daphne Fletcher,  David McRaney,  Kelly Morris

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ABSTRACT

* AN EXPERIENTIAL KNOWLEDGE of mentoring through nursing students' perspectives may enhance AORN's ability to recruit students to perioperative nursing and aid future planning for student involvement in the Association.

* IN 2003, four first-year nursing students attended the AORN Congress in Chicago with their nursing instructor and mentor. The students' experiences were captured using a thematic analysis to analyze their journals.

* THE FIVE COMMON THEMES identified were "it was huge," "exhibits," "student program," "exploring the city," and "suggestions for future planning." AORN J 79 (January 2004) 219-223.

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AORN has many initiatives for attracting nursing students to the field of perioperative nursing. These include AORN student membership at a reduced rate, AORN Online web pages designed specifically for students, and free attendance at AORN Congress for currently enrolled nursing students. These strategies support students in their education and provide AORN members with the opportunity to mentor students into perioperative nursing, as well as involve them in a professional nursing association. Currently, AORN has 284 student members.

This article provides a background on mentoring and communicates the experiences of four first-year nursing students who attended Congress for the first time. An experiential knowledge of students' perspectives may enhance AORN's ability to recruit student nurses and aid future planning for student involvement in the Association.

MENTORING

The national shortage of nurses makes it imperative to attract students to the profession. One nursing student expressed her concern in a letter to the Online Journal of Issues in Nursing. The student wrote,

   in my limited experience, I feel the
   main concern is that many experienced
   nurses are reluctant to mentor
   nursing students and new graduates
   and promote a positive image of
   nursing. If nurses would be more
   supportive of each other, especially if
   seasoned nurses would be more supportive
   of nursing students and new
   graduates, more new graduates
   might want to stay in nursing." (1)

Margaret Craig, RN, MS, chair of the American Nurses Association's Council for Professional Nursing, defines mentoring as "a nurturing relationship between professionals that is not confined to a place or limited by time." (2) AORN members have the potential to mentor students on local, state, and national levels by encouraging attendance at chapter meetings, AORN education offerings, and the national Congress. Attending an AORN Congress provides students with a chance to encounter perioperative nursing professionals whose enthusiasm and love for their profession is infectious.

Mentoring is a mutual relationship in which both mentors and mentees share themselves. The student-instructor mentor relationship creates many avenues of possible growth and benefit to both parties. One student described a good mentor as "someone who possesses professional attributes, knowledge, good communication skills and the motivation to teach and support students." (3) (p1544)

Through a mentor relationship with an instructor, students gain increased confidence in the classroom, as well as the clinical arena, and improved access to information not only through the mentor but also through professional associations outside of the academic arena. The mentor benefits by gaining pride, satisfaction, and the knowledge that he or she is making a difference for a novice nurse; developing management skills; and exploring new approaches to mentoring and how to implement them. (3)

A recent study documented that

   the student knowing the
   teacher was dependent,
   to a degree, on teachers'
   willingness to reveal
   themselves, and was
   supported by actions
   such as admitting fallibility
   and engaging in
   dialogue. Students described
   coming to know
   teachers through "casual,
   everyday" conversations
   about nursing and
   non nursing topics, by
   observing teachers" interactions
   with others,
   and listening, to their
   practice-related stories. In these
   ways, the teacher emerged as a person
   and a nurse. (4 (p573))

This process leads to the humanization of the instructor and enables students to relate more easily to faculty members in a clinical environment.

Attending a national conference together provides an excellent opportunity for students and instructors to reveal themselves and engage in dialogue. By removing themselves from the classroom and clinical sites, both parties are afforded the opportunity to let down their guard and be more open. Engaging in dialogue reveals the personal side of the instructor to the student, allowing both to become more comfortable with each other. A new level of understanding and comfort allows the mentor to better meet the needs of the student, focus on the student's interests, and anticipate mad help relieve any anxiety the student may have. Dialogue lays the groundwork for a more meaningful and lasting relationship between the student and the mentor. (3)