Serious about your career? Try the AONE Mentoring Network!
Mentoring is a nurturing process in which a more skilled or more experienced nurse leader, serving as a role model, teaches, sponsors, encourages and counsels a less experienced or aspiring nurse leader for the purpose of promoting the latter's professional and personal development.
Available to AONE members only, the AONE Mentoring Network provides the foundation for effective career development by linking more experienced nurse leaders with younger nurse leaders at earlier career stages. Both groups can benefit from this experience. Younger nurse leaders gain strategic knowledge, career insights, and information essential for successful careers along with the support and encouragement offered by the mentor. Mentors may learn new and innovative approaches to complex challenges, stay abreast of new thinking in the field, and usually enjoy the fresh views of younger colleagues.
Whether you want to be a protégé or a mentor, the first step is filling out and submitting one of the applications below. The protégé is the less experienced person who is seeking to enhance his/her career development. The mentor is the experienced person who voluntarily serves as trusted counselor and guide to the protégé.
Once the application has been submitted, a staff facilitator attempts to match you with another AONE member with similar interests or areas of expertise. This may take some time—a proper pairing is fundamental to the success of the program. Once a match is made, the facilitator helps to establish communication between mentors and protégés. The facilitator also makes periodic reviews of the program's progress.
Mentors and protégés are asked to commit to a six-month mentoring relationship. The relationship can be extended upon mutual agreement. A final evaluation will be conducted at the conclusion of each mentoring relationship in order to identify ways to improve the program.
To learn more about mentoring, AONE is pleased to offer two mentoring handbooks: "A Handbook for Professional Advisors/Mentors" and "A Handbook for Those Who Wish To Be Advised/Mentored.". These handbooks provide a wealth of ideas and suggestions for fostering a successful mentoring relationship.
Click here for the Protégé Application
Click here for the Mentor Application
