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Development of a Student Mentoring Program
Abstract
Background. Butler University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (COPHS) developed a mentoring program between students enrolled in the Freshmen Health Sciences Seminar (PX100) and student-pharmacists in the first through third professional years, with the goal of better preparing the preprofessionals for the college's curriculum. Methods. Mentees were randomly assigned to mentors. The course required 3 contacts, with formal documentation of each, and a reflective assessment of the experience. Upon completing the semester, we evaluated the program by considering the types and methods of contacts, positive or negative reactions, and recommendations for future improvement. Results. The majority of students gave the program high ratings, with 74% of the mentees and 64% of the mentors reporting a positive experience. Conclusion. We expect the mentoring experience will continue as a means of informing future pre-professional students about the pharmacy program's requirements and of fostering professional growth.
... Research has shown that mentoring is the key to recruitment and retention, and that all participants stand to benefit from this relationship [2][3][4][5]. Mentoring is a humanistic, nurturing, and social relationship requiring mutual learning, sharing, and professional and personal growth for both the mentor and the protégé [5][6][7][8]. The relationship gives experienced professionals the opportunity to share their experiences and knowledge with the next generation. ...
... With an informal relationship, mentors are self-selected by the protégé based on their experience, knowledge, credibility, and integrity [9]. Brown and Hanson [7] suggest that informal mentoring relationships provide the greatest benefits to students, particularly in the psychosocial realm. They also suggest that formal mentoring programs should be used as a supplement to informal mentoring [7]. ...
... Brown and Hanson [7] suggest that informal mentoring relationships provide the greatest benefits to students, particularly in the psychosocial realm. They also suggest that formal mentoring programs should be used as a supplement to informal mentoring [7]. ...
Mentoring is a concept that has been around for many years, but has only gained popularity in health science education programs over the past 20 years. Nursing, in particular, has recognized the short- and long-term benefits of mentoring students. The primary benefits are career and psychosocial development, which enables students to be successful in their educational programs. Mentoring also assists with easing the transition from student to graduate in a shorter period. In this literature review, the authors examined mentoring programs from nursing, medical school, pharmacy, and occupational therapy educational programs. Each of these health science programs reported favourable outcomes for their students involved in mentoring relationships, such as decreased stress and anxiety about their education, increased feelings of belonging to their programs and professions, and increased self-confidence and self-esteem.These studies help to confirm that mentoring can have a dramatic influence on the success and retention of students enrolled in health science programs. Unfortunately, no recent literature is available that specifically addresses mentoring practices in the medical radiation sciences. This article will attempt to show that results from current research in other health science educational programs could be used in forming medical radiation sciences mentoring programs. Developing these programs could have the same positive effects on recruitment and retention as they have in related disciplines.
... Mentors play important roles in developing the personal character of the protégé or mentee in achieving personal goals or set standards. 1 According to Huybrecht, et al., mentors help students bridge the knowledge gap between theory and practice, competency, role-modeling, and confidence. They do this by giving needed advice and guidance to their mentees from time to time -which is very instrumental in the academic setting in improving learning and reducing attrition rates. ...
... They function in nurturing the self-actualization and growth of a health professional who would be well poised to contribute adequately to the well-being and health of the society at large. 2 The mentoring process develops the psycho-social ability and enhances mentees' career development. 1 Even though mentorship has served various roles in the historical development of the Pharmacy (informal training of dispensers during the apothecary model), Medical (residency training of physicians under a notable and accomplished physician), and Nursing (mentoring of nurses in clinical roles by experienced nurses) professions, it is still effective to date in the development and training of upcoming health professionals. 3 The concept of mentorship has been adopted in undergraduate education to promote and enhance the effectiveness of the educational program, visible in the quality of students produced by such a program. ...
... In the AIME program there is a significant departure from the predominant view that methodical matching of mentees and mentors is important to successful mentoring relationships. For example, a number of studies have underscored the importance of attention to gender, ethnicity, and common interests in matching mentor with mentee (Brown & Hanson., 2003;Valeau, 1999;Zeind et al., 2005). Contrary to this type of approach, in terms of the predominant view of a necessary parity of 'ethnicity', AIME mentees and mentors are largely from different cultural heritages. ...
... This included encouraging mentors to adopt the role of learner by providing opportunity for the mentee to instruct the mentor and also, avoiding prescriptive outcomes or objectives. We have detailed the characteristics of this organic approach in another publication but the literature in this field also underscores the importance of gender, ethnicity and common interests when matching mentors and mentees (Brown & Hanson, 2003;Valeau, 1999;Zeind et al., 2005). The AIME Program does not subscribe to this view and does not require gender or ethnic parity in its mentor relationships. ...
This article explores the unique mentoring model that the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) has established to assist Australian Indigenous young people succeed educationally. AIME can be described as a structured educational mentoring programme, which recruits university students to mentor Indigenous high school students. The success of the programme is unequivocal, with the AIME Indigenous mentees completing high school and the transition to further education and employment at higher rates than their non-AIME Indigenous counterparts. This article reports on a study that sought to deeply explore the particular approach to mentoring that AIME adopts. The study drew upon interviews, observations and surveys with AIME staff, mentees and mentors, and the focus in this article is on the surveys completed by the university mentors involved in the programme. Overall, there seems to be a discernible mutual reciprocity inherent in the learning outcomes of this mentoring programme; the mentors are learning along with the mentees. The article seeks to consider how AIME mentors reflect upon their learning in this programme and also how this pedagogic potential has been facilitated.
... Peer-to-peer student mentorship Brown et al. [24] In this program, 74% of the mentees and 64% of the mentors had a positive experience. ...
Background: Mentorship has benefits for students and faculty, helping to support their professional development, connectedness, and career endeavors. While the value of mentorship programs is well documented in the literature, there is less practical guidance and few compiled resources to start a program. This paper reviews different mentorship practices in pharmacy education and provides a list of strategies to develop high-functioning mentorship programs or groups. Methods: A review of the literature was conducted through PubMed and other databases. If the titles and abstracts met the initial criteria for relevance to the topic, the complete article was reviewed in the context of the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Included articles focused on mentorship, mentorship programs, mentorship development, mentoring faculty or students, or mentoring in the workplace. Results: Twenty-three studies were included in the final review. Summaries and key points from the studies were reviewed and discussed. The advantages of mentorship programs include increased social connection, goal setting, and professional development. Challenges include increased time commitments and difficulty in determining objective markers of success. Critical components have been extracted from the literature, and key resources and templates have been provided to aid in mentorship program development. Conclusions: This review summarizes the pharmacy mentorship literature and provides user-friendly tables to quickly locate resources to build a mentorship program in pharmacy education.
... 15,16 The present study adds the student perspective on ACPE-S4 skill development as a potential mentoring outcome to other literature in pharmacy education that has focused on program development, implementation, and sustainability. 15,[17][18][19] The present study corroborates the work of Raub and colleagues, 15 which identified a strong desire to participate in a mentorship program among P2 and P4 student pharmacists, with 77% of P2 and 70% of P4 students stating that the mentorship program aided in their professional growth. It may be possible to integrate processes and activities for attitude and skill development into formal mentoring programs to facilitate student growth in these areas. ...
... 15,16 The present study adds the student perspective on S4 skill development as a potential mentoring outcome to other literature in pharmacy education which have focused on program development, implementation, and sustainability. 15,[17][18][19] The present study corroborates work Raub et. al. which identified a strong desire among students to take part in a mentorship program amongst P2 and P4 pharmacy students, with 77% of P2 and 70% of P4 students stating that the mentorship program aided in their professional growth. ...
Objectives:
Attitudes and skills reflecting ACPE Standard 4 (ACPE S4) remain an important component of pharmacy education. The objectives of this study were 1) explore student perspectives on the importance of ACPE-S4 key elements and 2) identify experiences that students identified as supporting ACPE S4 attitude and skill development.
Methods:
This was a qualitative study using focus groups and dyadic interviews with pharmacy students to collect data on ACPE-S4 key element importance and skill acquisition. A general inductive qualitative approach was used to analyze data, with two study authors independently reviewing all transcripts and assigning codes to text segments. Authors then met to discuss coding, iteratively organize coded segments into categories and subcategories, and select representative quotes.
Results:
Overall, three focus groups and three dyadic interviews were conducted with a total of 20 students. Students ranked professionalism and self-awareness as the two most important key elements. From qualitative analysis, four categories and ten subcategories of educational activities, programs, and experiences were identified as follows: Mentorship (Identifying a Mentor, Formal Mentorship Programs), Curriculum (Practice Lab, Professional Development Course, Interprofessional Education (IPE), Experiential Education), Cocurriculum (Organizational Involvement, Volunteer Hours), Opportunities Outside Academic Setting (Work, Conferences and Innovative Pharmacy Practices).
Conclusions:
Participants articulated several opportunities for developing the skills and attitudes reflecting ACPE-S4 key elements. Incorporating student input into S4 attitude and skill development may help pharmacy programs consider how to design, refine, and implement initiatives and experiences to help students develop skills across S4 focus areas.
... 12 Peer mentoring also has been described between student pharmacists and pre-pharmacy students. 13 The American Pharmacists Association: Academy of Student Pharmacists suggest faculty-student mentoring programs can be beneficial for increasing professional involvement, networking, and career counseling and recommend students take the Initiative to reach out and engage faculty in professional development activities. 14 To our knowledge, no studies have examined faculty perspectives of serving as formal mentors to student pharmacists. ...
Objective: To describe pharmacy faculty perspectives on participating in a formal mentoring program for student pharmacists.
Methods: This qualitative study used ten, 45 to 60 minute semi-structured interviews conducted in November and December, 2012 with faculty mentors sampled randomly by strata of on-site off-site positions at a single public university college of pharmacy. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. Transcripts were coded using an inductively created consensus code list. The research team iteratively grouped codes into themes, developed summaries, and identified representative quotes.
Results: Analysis of interviews produced three main themes. Mentor interaction was described as having an investigative or responsive orientation, which influenced mentor actions and perspectives for the relationship with the student mentee. Program structure and concerns included a perceived absence of clear program objectives. Mentor response to feedback focused on 3 feedback sources: administrators, peers, and students.
Conclusions: Overall, faculty mentors in this program had different approaches to, expectations for, and experiences in their formal mentoring program participation. These differences are initial descriptions of mentor approaches toward mentoring interactions by faculty in a formal mentoring program. Colleges of pharmacy leaders and administrators may benefit from more clearly specifying and communicating program objectives in order to achieve results for mentees, mentors, and the organization.
Type: Original Research
... When student pharmacists mentor prepharmacy students, some mentees and a few mentors express that they might have been more comfortable had their mentor or mentee been gender matched. 45 Although a counterargument suggesting intergender professional relationships are more valuable when considering future practitioners' needs in "the real world," a balance needs to exist to accommodate cultural beliefs. ...
The Institute of Medicine has stated that greater diversity within health care professionals leads to improved patient outcomes. Therefore, greater diversity within academia and student bodies is required to create future diverse health care professionals. Cultural sensitivity is required from recruitment to physical environment for administrators, faculty, staff, and students. University, college, and department recruitment, search committees, hiring practices, and admissions policies and procedures need to be assessed to determine whether they reflect the applicant pool and patient populations in their regions and whether they are culturally sensitive to a wide variety of cultures. The mission, vision, policies, procedures, curriculums, and environments should also be created or reviewed, modified, and/or expanded to ensure that no administrator, faculty member, staff member, or student is discriminated against or disadvantaged because of cultural beliefs or practices. In addition to discussing the interplay between cultural sensitivity and academic policies, procedures, and environments, this article briefly discusses specific cultural issues related to religion, spirituality, race, ethnicity, gender, age, marital status, veterans, physical, mental, and learning disabilities, and sexual orientation diversity.
Background and purpose
Mentoring programs, a practical tool commonly used by universities, can serve to help new students adapt to challenging college life. Peer mentorship offers the potential for professional development of student pharmacists.
Educational activity and setting
The Raabe College of Pharmacy at Ohio Northern University implemented a peer mentoring program in 2014. This study evaluates the impact of that program on new student pharmacists. A post-program survey was completed evaluating students’ career perception, emotional stability, academic success, and student perception of the program's influence on these areas.
Findings
The results indicated that 71.7% of respondents found the mentoring program helpful in their transition to college, and that 60.4% of respondents would “somewhat likely” or “extremely likely” stay active in the mentoring program.
Discussion
Peer mentorship may serve as a tool to assist student acclimation to the expectations of a professional degree program.
Summary
It was concluded that the pharmacy mentorship program at the Raabe College of Pharmacy at Ohio Northern is making a positive impact on first-year students by engaging them in the pharmacy program and aiding their transition from high school to college.
Background and purpose
Mentorship programs can play a significant role in the professional development of a variety of individuals, including student pharmacists and practitioners. Many mentorship programs have been described in the literature, but the literature pertaining to mentorship programs for student pharmacists specifically is varied.
Educational activity and setting
A leadership society at one school of pharmacy established a formal mentorship program to aid the professional development of student pharmacists. This year-long program matched third-year student pharmacists with practicing pharmacists. This paper describes the development of the program, along with perceived benefits and challenges associated with implementation.
Findings
The mentor (n=8) and mentee (n=17) respondents provided positive feedback (100% and 94%, respectively) regarding the mentorship program. Most mentors and mentees noted they enjoyed having the opportunity to network and gained different perspectives on issues related to pharmacy. The challenges most noted by both the mentors and mentees were time limitations and scheduling conflicts. More consistent communication between mentors and mentees was noted as an area of improvement for future programs.
Discussion
The described program may create avenues to achieve professional development elements of the 2016 Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) Standards and 2013 Center for Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) Outcomes. Continued, regular evaluation is important to help with process improvement, address challenges, and ensure the program is meeting desired objectives. Adjustments may be needed based on participant feedback, available resources, and student interest.
Summary
Overall, the program was successful, helping participants grow personally and professionally. With modifications, other institutions may utilize this data to develop similar programs.
Peer mentoring has long been considered useful and vital to leadership development in personal, professional, and academic settings. Pharmacy education can be a demanding process for students, especially when factoring in other obligations, such as pharmacy internships, research projects, and
Background
The value of mentoring is recognized in many fields, including pharmacy, as a means for one person (mentor) to help another person (protegé) enhance his or her growth, knowledge and skills. The University of Alberta Faculty of Pharmacy and the Pharmacy Alumni Association conducted an 8-month mentorship pilot project involving pharmacy undergraduate students and alumni pharmacists. The focus was to assist students transitioning into the pharmacy workforce by providing guidance and advice from pharmacist mentors.
Methods
A prototype mentorship model was developed. The model consisted of recruitment and matching processes and multiple structured and unstructured communication sessions (education and relationship-building). Seven student protegés and 7 licensed Alberta pharmacists participated in the pilot throughout the 2007–08 academic year. The formal evaluation was based on document reviews and participant interviews.
Results
The key findings included: participants were very positive about the pilot program activities; both protegés and mentors would recommend participation to colleagues; the ideal year for participation was the third year in the pharmacy undergraduate program; the most beneficial pieces of advice were about change associated with early career development; 5 of 7 mentor/protegé pairs planned to continue or were actually continuing communications; e-mail was the most efficient communication; finding the time to communicate was the major barrier.
Discussion
The results from the pilot provided preliminary evidence that pharmacy students have similar mentorship needs as students in other disciplines and that a formal mentorship model can address these needs. The students had career-related and personal questions and interests that were addressed by the alumni pharmacist mentors. The mentorship model had sufficient processes and structure to build and maintain relationships and to satisfy mentorship needs.
Conclusion
The pilot demonstrated that a pharmacy mentorship model can be successfully established and be of benefit to participants and potentially to pharmacy practice. Based on the findings, an expanded version of the program was implemented in the fall 2009 academic term.
Background:
Student pharmacist mentoring programs have gained attention from colleges of pharmacy as a way to enhance the student experience. However, no evaluative models have been proposed or theoretical explanations described for use in improving formal mentoring programs in pharmacy or for guiding the construction of a literature base.
Objectives:
The objectives of this study were to investigate student expectations and preferences for formal mentoring programs and propose a model for evaluating formal mentoring programs in pharmacy education.
Methods:
Five, 60-minute focus groups were conducted in September 2009. Participants were PharmD candidates in their first 3 years of professional education. Discussion was facilitated using a question guide. Following transcription, an initial iteration of the model was used to code the data. A consensus-forming process was used to derive themes and identify representative quotes. Elaboration and specification of the final proposed model is presented.
Results:
In all, 28 students participated. Emergent constructs were identified from the data. Structures or inputs of the formal mentoring program included mentor and protégé characteristics and program structure. Mentoring processes included mentor functions, mentoring activities, and relationship development. Outcomes included both proximal outcomes in the form of mentor and protégé change, program satisfaction, and organizational learning; and distal outcomes comprised mentor, protégé, and organizational outcomes.
Conclusions:
This formal mentoring evaluation model was useful in guiding analysis of protégé experiences and preferences for a college-sponsored program. The model can be used to guide college administrators and researchers on future theory-based inquiry into protégé; mentor; and organizational structures, processes, and outcomes for formal mentoring programs.
Background
There is a well-documented shortage of pharmacists in Australia and overseas. Mentoring has been proposed as a strategy to help bridge the gap between university and the workforce, and to maintain enthusiasm in young pharmacists and students for their profession.AimTo develop, implement and evaluate a mentoring program, matching young pharmacists working in a range of pharmacy practice settings with pharmacy students.Method
The mentoring program was divided into 3 phases: Phase 1—literature review and feasibility study; Phase 2—recruitment of young pharmacists (mentors) and pharmacy students (mentees), matching mentors and mentees by areas of pharmacy interest and encouraging them to discuss their individual needs, desires and work goals; Phase 3—program evaluation.Results151 mentees and 56 mentors (n = 207) were recruited (April 2003 to October 2004). Of the 56 mentors, 13 were from a hospital pharmacy background. 42% of students selected hospital pharmacy as their first preference and 21% selected hospital pharmacy as their second preference. 58 students were recorded as having a hospital mentor. Due to poor response rates to the program evaluation survey, the data reported for phase 3 is for all participants and is not specific to hospital. No differences in qualitative results could be seen between the sectors.Conclusion
The mentoring program was flexible and appears transportable. Further studies are needed to determine whether mentoring impacts on the retention of young pharmacists and pharmacy students within the profession. We recommend that the profession support a national mentoring program where further outcomes of this model could be evaluated.
We investigated differences in the costs and benefits associated with being a mentor in a matched sample of 80 male and 80 female executives. Women were as likely as men to be mentors and reported outcomes and intentions for future mentoring similar to men's. Implications and areas for future research are discussed.
The authors examined the effects of the type of mentoring relationship and the gender composition of the relationship on mentoring functions and career outcomes reported by 352 female and 257 male protégés. Protégés of informal mentors viewed their mentors as more effective and received greater compensation than protégés of formal mentors. Protégés with informal mentors also received more career outcomes than nonmentored individuals, but no significant differences were found between nonmentored and formally mentored individuals. The gender composition of the relationship affected mentoring functions and outcomes, and protégé gender interacted with the type of relationship to affect mentoring functions.
In order to teach first year (P1) pharmacy students about compliance and patient behavior, and third year (P3) students about patient interviewing and counseling, an interactive learning activity for both cohorts of students was initiated Fall semester, 1994. This activity provides an opportunity for first year students to interact with upper classmates to reduce the stress and isolation often felt by new students during the first semester of the curriculum. Two "prescriptions," two disease states, and a brief case history are given to each P1 student and the student is instructed to become that patient for four weeks. At the initial visit (week 1) the P1 "patients" present their prescriptions to their assigned P3 student "pharmacists" during a Pharmaceutical Care Lab. The P1 patients receive their medications (candy) and are interviewed and counseled. The P1 students are required to take their two medications as prescribed; learn about their specific drugs and diseases (self-directed), and "develop" a drug-related problem to present to their P3 pharmacist at a second visit four weeks later. During this second visit the P3 student obtains additional information from the patient, and is required to correctly identify and resolve whatever problem s/he is presented with. This interactive learning activity has proven to be an excellent way to meet the specific goals for which it was developed. Student evaluations have been overwhelming positive, and this exercise has been fully incorporated into the P1 and P3 courses taught each Fall semester by the authors.
Graduate students have long been used, with mixed results, as teaching assistants in colleges of pharmacy. It is our view that upper level undergraduate students who have successfully completed a given course, who are sufficiently interested in the area of study, and, most importantly, who are interested in assisting a fellow student, can prove to be effective in this role. It was with this in mind that we began to use undergraduate student mentors in our required pharmacy ethics course. Our recently completed survey indicated that students felt that mentors should be used on a regular basis in pharmacy ethics and the availability of the services provided by the mentor facilitated their successful completion of the course. Moreover, the survey results suggest that the use of undergraduate student mentors - carefully selected, trained and supported - can be a valuable educational resource in pharmacy education, beyond simply their use in pharmacy ethics.
Role Play is an issues-related forum to engender dialogue about the roles assumed by nurses who care for children and their families.
This article presents a case study of mentoring relations in a National Health Service Trust hospital. The hospital was undergoing a programme of change, which included a considerable investment in management development, supported by a mentoring programme. The research presented here included observations, interviews and research-focused discussions with managers and other participants in the mentoring programme, concentrating especially on the nature of the mentoring process and relationship. Contrasting interpretations and constructions of the meaning of the mentoring process are presented. It was found that the nature of mentoring relationships changed radically as mentees began to define themselves as being more competent and knowledgeable in management and that psychosocial functions in the mentoring relationships operated inversely to the direction of hierarchical authority present in these relationships.
An investigation was undertaken to determine the degree of comfort associated with patient counseling for pharmacy students and pharmacists. A comfort level survey was prepared and distributed to pharmacy students after externship/clerkship experiences and to a group of pharmacy practitioners during the 1989 Indiana Pharmacy Association annual meeting. The survey utilized a Likert scale format to rate the level of comfort associated with counseling both female and male patients on sixteen side effects characteristic of antihypertensive drugs. Participants also took The Bern Sex-Role Inventory which gives a measure of an individual's identification with traits associated with masculinity and femininity. Participants were classified as traditionally female, traditionally male, androgynous (having the traits of both sexes), or undifferentiated. The degree of comfort is reported with reference to side effect, experience level, sex of patient, sex of pharmacist or pharmacy student and Bern gender classification. Where there were significant differences in patient counseling comfort, those pharmacists and pharmacy students classified as androgynous reported greater comfort than those classified as traditionally male, traditionally female or undifferentiated. A greater degree of comfort was also reported when discussing sensitive sex-related issues with a patient of the same sex as compared to a patient of the opposite sex.
Research on mentorships has suffered from fragmentation of key issues; specifically, type of mentoring relationship, functions served by the mentor, and outcomes of the mentoring relationship. A field study was conducted comparing 212 protégés who were involved in informally developed mentorships, 53 protégés involved in formal mentor-ship programs, and 284 individuals who did not have mentors. Individuals in informal and formal mentorships were compared along two mentoring dimensions: psychosocial and career-related functions. All groups were compared on three outcome measures: organizational socialization, job satisfaction, and salary. Results indicated protégés in informal mentorships reported more career-related support from their mentors and higher salaries than protégés in formal mentorships. For all outcome variables, protégés in informal mentorships also reported more favorable outcomes than nonmentored individuals. However, outcomes from protégés in formal mentorships were generally not significant from the other two groups. Implications for mentorship practices and research are discussed.
Faculty members are challenged to promote professional nurse development in undergraduate students. The authors discuss an experimental teaching/learning strategy for senior nursing students and groups of freshman students in a baccalaureate nursing program. This strategy provided a unique opportunity for professional role socialization and school integration in first-year students and increased competence in teaching skills and confidence as professional role models in the seniors. Based on evaluations by the participants, the experimental teaching strategy was a positive experience for both freshman and senior students.
This paper reports part of a multiple-phase action research initiated by a university nursing department in Hong Kong. Local hospitals were invited to collaborate in a joint mentoring programme which recruited clinical staff to mentor pre-registration nursing students during clinical placement. Interviews based on the five roles -assisting, befriending, guiding, advising and counselling, as outlined by the English National Board, were conducted to explore students' views of the mentor's roles. Findings showed that students in general agreed that the five roles depicted were necessary roles of the mentors. They saw the roles of assisting and guiding as most crucial, while the befriending role was useful to facilitate their settling into the ward. The advising and counselling roles were seen as less important. It was concluded that students tended to be more instrumental in viewing their mentor's behaviours; activities that have a direct effect on their learning are considered as more important, while other factors which have a less immediate or less direct effect on their learning, are seen as of lower priority.
It is our professional responsibility to encourage membership in nursing organizations. Membership helps nurses make intelligent, well-informed decisions about health care and our profession. It also enhances our credibility and helps validate nursing as a profession. Plato said, "Those having torches will pass them on to others." As nurses, educators, preceptors, advocates and mentors, we carry the fire.