The Impact of Learning in a Mentorship Community

As Printed in NSNA Imprint- November/December 2005

By: Stephanie Andrade & Sherry Bassi, EdD, APRN, CS

Through its First Year Learning Community (FYLC), the University of Connecticut School of Nursing, Storrs, Connecticut, offers its incoming freshman class guidance and support, just as we all needed at one time. As a student mentor and faculty associate, respectively, Dr. Bassi and I were able to give back to the university beyond our typical roles as faculty and student mentor. Mentorship through a learning community provides the stepping-stones for those who are beginning a vigorous nursing program. The following details how the University of Connecticut has institutionalized a mentorship program in the form of an FYLC allowing the incoming student to connect with other residents while actively interacting with faculty. This support network is key to the mentor/protégée relationship and vital to helping students succeed in an intense four year program.

Learning Community
The University of Connecticut has developed the FYLC in order to “combine the experience of living together in the residence hall with the frequent interaction of an introductory-first year experience one credit course” (Sears & Arnold, 2004, 1). Students enjoy direct and frequent contact with the student mentor, nursing faculty associate, and residential life staff through the one-credit first year experience course, which is specialized to reflect a community theme, in this case nursing. Course instructors interact weekly in the class and through various programs and events outside the classroom. The role of mentorship is to provide a support system for the student as well as a faculty presence in the nursing community. The student mentor resides on the floor with the residents to provide support in the living environment as well as in the classroom, promoting resident connections, student/faculty connections and a supportive environment (Sears, 2004).

Welcoming
As a student mentor it was my responsibility to make incoming students feel like they were entering a safe and welcoming environment. Upon arrival, each student found a welcome letter from me, the faculty associate, and the resident hall director. At the beginning of the school year I created a bulletin board on the floor entitled “Nursing Times,” which displayed articles from the NSNA’s Imprint and American Journal of Nursing. Many of the articles were specifically aimed at nursing students and the challenges they faced, while others presented factual information about various diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Guidance with Academics
The student mentor and FYLC faculty associate ensure that students interact with the faculty outside the classroom and experience the university community as a whole. Within that same scope, they are responsible for making sure that a student also feels connected to the school of nursing. In fact, we followed Temple University’s motto in this instance by striving to “create a small college atmosphere at a large university,” (Shapiro, 1999, 3).

As a student mentor for the FYLC nurses, I created an intimate environment representative of the university and particularly, the school of nursing. I understood when a student struggled with some classes, and was able to advise them on study habits and how to better prepare for exams as well as selecting courses for the following semester. I also made the faculty associate aware of any particular academic challenges so that she could plan programs for skill-building in the areas of studying and test-taking. As the student mentor I was responsible for outlining a schedule for each student to complete and follow prior to their midterms – it outlined their time to study, time for breaks to exercise, stretch and relax, as well as time for eating well-balanced meals. The great thing about our mentorship program and my role is that the student mentor is not only a mentor in the classroom, but also someone who lives with them. This allowed me to observe the interaction between different personalities, assist them in learning to work together, and share their thoughts and ideas, as well as helping them to adjust to the college environment. I would inform the faculty associate of any problems I observed in the resident hall and together we addressed them in class via group discussions.

Networking
An important aspect of the FYLC mentorship program is to put inter-university connections to work for the students. We had a network of individuals who helped us plan for the class. The
faculty associate, the resident hall director, and I met at the beginning of the semester to develop the syllabus for the semester and a plan of action for the year. From the beginning we all agreed that an important aspect of the residential community was to make sure that as first year students, our charges not only enjoyed the school of nursing but also enjoyed all that the university had to offer. The faculty associate always reminded us that nursing students must have fun to compensate for a rigorous course.

Interaction with Peers
A major challenge for new students is interaction with peers. As a nursing student, and as a mentor, I have realized that communication skills are a very important aspect of this career, and it is through conversation that people gleam the knowledge and learn the skills that they need in life: “Dialogue creates the potential for developing awareness of and understanding for the different perspectives about the educational experience held by faculty and students” (Schaffer & Juarez, 1996, 43). Our mentorship relationship and our ability to communicate served as a model for the FYLC. In any environment there are many different personalities and as a result certain personalities get along better than others, especially when there is a connection in the classroom and in the residence hall.

One way I decided to improve communication among all members was to have a scavenger hunt. Each group was designated a name such as “scrubs,” “syringe,” “stethoscope” or “blood pressure.” I gave the groups a week to explore the campus and learn facts about the university and the school of nursing. I made sure the groups consisted of classmates who normally did not associate with each other. An important aspect of the nursing profession is the ability to work collaboratively with others. Initially, the FYLC students were not excited about separating from their friends. The faculty associate requested that students complete a weekly journal reflecting on their personal experiences. Although she was the only one to read their confidential entries, we were aware that again and again, homesickness and the overwhelming challenges of university life were predominant themes. Upon completion of the scavenger hunt, students reported they had learned new facts about the university and school of nursing. More importantly, the scavenger hunt helped create a bond and helped the students communicate with each other. Many expressed that it was helpful getting to know other members of the learning community and that it helped them cope with feeling overwhelmed and homesick.

Faculty-Student Relationships
A very important aspect for our mentorship course was to provide faculty/student relationships outside of the classroom. Typically, curriculum is defined as “the interactions that takes
place between and among the students, clients, practitioners and teachers with the intent that learning take place and the quality of the curriculum depends on the quality of these interactions”
(Smith, 2003, 227). In order to improve that relationship, students need more than the weekly classroom interaction with a professor.. The FYLC mentorship course is able to provide that. As the student mentor I was the student-link in the resident hall, mentoring any time of the day or night and as the need arose. I was also the link to the faculty associate when she was not available. As a group, the FYLC planned a trip during the fall semester class to see the play RENT. As the student mentor I was provided with money from the FYLC budget to fund the trip and invited faculty from the school of nursing to attend, allowing us all the opportunity to socialize informally outside of the classroom. Prior to our trip, we read an article that I provided addressing AIDS and the role of nurses. This article provided background information to foster in understanding the play as well as facts about rural nurses and their work with AIDS patients. The faculty associate encouraged me to choose the article and she enthusiastically supported my choice. I learned a great deal from the responsibility of planning this event and appreciated the autonomy I had in planning it.

Rewards
“The use of the learning community concept has tremendous potential to make a positive impact on nursing education. If student interaction is increased, students will develop networking skills as pre-professionals that will be useful to them throughout their professional careers” (Churchill, Reno & Batchelor, 1998, 7-8). Bassi and Polifroni (2005) suggest that the use of learning communities in nursing has the potential to increase retention and recruitment of new graduate nurses as well. This is vital today given the looming nurse shortage. As a student mentor, my reward has been to see my guidance have a positive impact on students through their college years, which will hopefully extend to their professional nursing career. As the student mentor, I was the student-link in the residence hall, mentoring at any time of the day and as the need arose. In addition, I have developed a relationship with the faculty associate and together we will continue to work on projects like this paper that makes students like you, nurses and faculty more aware of the benefits and rewards of mentorship and the learning community.

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