Mentorship: Do the returns justify the investment?

摘要

Mentorship programmes are one of the biggest continuing professional development costs for NHS placement providers. The number of mentors undertaking approved mentorship programmes run into the tens of thousands across the UK each year. Add to this the cost of releasing staff to attend the course and then attend annual face-to-face updates, maintenance of a live register of mentors, the undertaking of triennial reviews, enabling 1 hour per week protected time for sign-off mentors and the overall time taken by mentors in supporting learners in practice. The investment in mentorship is significant.Any business investing that much time and money into what are significant numbers of mentors would expect a substantial return on their investment, not least nurses who are committed to mentorship and providing high-quality learning for the future workforce. Unfortunately there are significant flaws in the system that militates against this.