Mariani, B. (n.d.). The Effect of Mentoring on Career Satisfaction of Registered Nurses and Intent to Stay in the Nursing Profession. Nursing Research and Practice, 1-9. Mentoring plays a crucial role in the growth and development of novice nurses. It provides a way for the experienced nurses to give back to the profession and helps them play a significant role in the formulation of a new nurses’ career. Mentors offer knowledge, encouragement, support, guidance, and friendship to the next generation of caregivers. In her study, Marian wanted to see if there was a connection between mentoring, job satisfaction, and retention. Practicing nurses were selected randomly to be mailed surveys to complete regarding mentoring and its’ effect on job satisfaction and nursing retention. There were limitations and flaws in this study making it difficult to determine its validity. For one, the rate of returned surveys did not reach the study’s target goal of 60%. The responses were uneven between nurses who had participated in mentoring and those who did not. Also nurses dissatisfied with their careers may not have responded, and even with defined terms included, participants may have been confused with precepting, mentoring, and protégé. Although this survey study did not show any relationship between mentoring, job satisfaction, and retention, it did establish that mentoring continues throughout the profession on a routine basis. Mariani thinks this suggests that future studies should be done to determine the effects of mentoring on the nursing profession and monitoring the effects of it on a nurses' career.

Trinkoff, A., Johantgen, M., Storr, C., Han, K., Liang, Y., Gurses, A., & Hopkinson, S. (n.d.). A Comparison Of Working Conditions Among Nurses In Magnet And Non-Magnet® Hospitals. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 309-315. This study focused on the role that Magnet recognition places on recruitment and retention. The participants all worked in an acute hospital and given a series of questionnaires and surveys that assessed and compared work schedules, job demands, and practice environments. Job demands focused on both the psychological and physical aspects. Psychological demands included working hard, working fast, excessive amounts of work, long hours of intense concentration, being interrupted before tasks are completed, and waiting for others to complete tasks. Physical demands included heavy lifting, physical strain, standing long hours, and being in awkward positions. Practice environment included autonomy, support, patient safety culture, and satisfaction with management. The data collected from the nurses were separated into categories based on race, age, educational level, unit type, and marital status. After the data was analyzed there was little difference between the nurses working in a Magnet hospital and those that did not. Those working in a Magnet hospital were less likely to have mandated overtime or on-call responsibilities. The study suggests that the key factors involved in nursing retention, which are, better working environments, adequate staffing, support, and satisfaction with management did not differ between the two. The authors suggest that facilities need to become more appealing to nurses by improving work environments, set working hours, and predictable schedules. This study was slightly flawed because it was self-reported and could contain some bias. Also, there are many reasons why nurses leave positions, and they are probably not related to a hospitals' Magnet status. Focusing on the work environment is necessary to improve the overall satisfaction and retention of experienced nurses.

Roberts, K. (2005). Nursing's Extreme Makeover Challenge. American Journal of Nursing, 20-28. Roberts discusses the fact that the average age for practicing nurses is 45 and that if new nurses are not recruited there will be a shortage that can’t be avoided. She talks about empowerment and