The Role of Mentoring in the Development of

African American Nurse Leaders: A Descriptive Study

By Jacqueline J. Hill, PhD, RN, CRRN
Assistant Professor, Southern University and A & M College, School of Nursing

• Background
• Problem Statement
• Research Questions
• Theoretical Framework
• Review of Literature
• Methodology
• Data Collection
• Data Analysis
• Results Phase I
• Results Phase II
• Interview Participant Responses
• Discussion & Conclusions
• Implications for Nursing and Higher Education
• Recommendations for Future Research

• There are over 2.7 million registered nurses (RN Survey, 2000)
• Approximately 87% RNs are White and 5 % are African American (RN Survey, 2000)

EXAMPLES of African American nurses in leadership positions: (Schmieding, 2000):

• Of 560 deans, 93.2% White and 5% African American
• ANA - 1 out of 25 executive staff members is African American
• NLN members - 77.2% White; 6.7% African American
• National Institute of Health - all 7 senior level staff members White; 2 African Americans on the 15 member advisory board

Problem Statement
There is a disproportionate number of African American nurses in leadership positions who could potentially influence policy issues that affect minority populations (Schmieding, 2000)

There is a striking gap in literature in that little specifically addresses mentoring and African American nurses

Research Questions

1. How do African American nurse leaders in higher education characterize their mentoring relationships?

2. How do African American nurse leaders in higher education perceive the effects of mentoring relationships on their professional lives?

3. What are the differences and similarities between the characterizations of African American nurse leaders with same-race mentors and those with different-race mentors?

Theoretical Framework

Levinson's "Adult Developmental Theory" (Levinson, et al., 1978) tells us that:

• Men and women transition through a series of age related phases in their development to adulthood.
• Mentoring relationships form in the Novice Phase

Review of Literature

Mentoring for career advancement, recruitment, career development & attainment of leadership positions

(Davidson & Foster, 2001; Dreher & Cox, 1996; Lee, 1999; Miller, Jackson, & Pope, 2001; Roche, 1979; White; 1988 Zey, 1984)

Mentoring and Race - common interests & mutual attraction; acknowledging differences; psychosocial benefits

(Davidson & Foster-Johnson, 2001; Fagenson, 1992; Redmond, 1990; Thomas, 1990)

African American Nurse Leaders, Nursing - Bessent, Felton, Malone, Adams-Ender

(Vance & Olson, 1998)

Mentoring has been shown to be an effective strategy in the development of leaders in the profession of nursing

(Allen, 1998; Boyle & James, 1990; Dunham-Taylor, 2000; Vance, 1995; Shaffer, Tallarica & Walsh , 2000)

Higher Education - Miller & Carnegie (Hine, 1982)

Methodology

• Sequential Mixed Design (quan/QUAL)
  
• Pilot Study
  • Sample ñ 32 nurse leaders in healthcare facilities
    • Snowball sampling
    • Established reliability and validity of instruments

Data Collection

Phase I -

> Mail-out 60 consent forms and Mentoring Experience Surveys (MES), a 27 item self-administered tool

Phase II -

> Interview 10 nurse leaders using the Mentoring Experience Interview (MEI) which has13 semi-structured questions

Data Analysis

• Phase I
  • Descriptive statistics
  • Independent t tests
  • Point-biserial correlation
  • Linear regression
  • Constant comparative
    
• Phase II
  • Constant comparative - unitizing & categorizing
  • Trustworthiness - peer debriefing, triangulation, member checking

Results Phase I

1. Sample = 47 (78% return rate)

• 96% Female; 4% Male
• 30% Deans
• 85% Mentored
• 90% Mentored by a female
• 65% Mentored by AA; 31% mentored by Whites
• 23% Mentored by nurse administrators

2. How Mentoring Relationship was Initiated
3. Attributes That Attracted Mentee to Mentor
4. Changes Resulting from Mentoring Relationship

• 64% -Mentoring relationship lasted 5 or more years
• 49% -Mentoring relationship has not ended
• 36% -Describe relationship as close and intense; 38% amiable
• 82% -Mentoring influential in their professional lives
• 60% -Mentoring influential in their decision to become nurse leaders

Mean, Standard Deviation, Standard Error and t value were done for Questions 17 and 18 and Race of Mentor

Results Phase II

Sample of 10 participants
Criteria for consideration: - Completed returned MES

1. The mentorís race (5 African American, 5 White)
2. The participantís position (representative of various positions)
3. Type of school (HBCU v. PWI)
4. Geographic locale (representative of different areas of U.S.)
5. Overall mentoring experiences

1. Where Would I Be Without My Mentor

• "I think that having a mentor benefited me 120% because she made me believe in myself, made me believe that I could do things and half of this I never could have accomplished."
  
  
• "I would not have been aware of my leadership qualities had it not been for the mentor-I think she was an excellent role model."
  
  
• "Didn't consider myself a leaderÖIt was my mentor [who] really opened those kinds of doors [leadership positions] for me [that] led me to believe I could do it, that it was possible and supported me in the decisions that I made, that provided the opportunity to move into leadership."

2. Mentors as Protectors

• "[She] would keep me informed of whatever was going on in the organization-she really helped me -by giving me a heads up on things ...she was like an angel-she was perfect."
  
  
• "I think that most of the interferences that he provided for me were basically conflict in the work place-he became a liaison between me, the faculty and the president, and always provided that protective shield-consequently I was able to continue to overcome one hurdle after another."

3. The Impact of Race on Mentoring Relationships

• "We havenít talked about race directly, weíve talked about race as it applies to some of our work related issues-race has never come up in terms of whether or not we can work together."
  
  
• "When involved with someone of a different race I'm always knowledgeable of that difference-that we are of a different race...in our discussions, I always wondered-that because of these differences she may not perceive things the way I do and itís a racial thing and it could be a cultural thing. You know they [Whites] have their ideas about who we are and I donít want to validate any of it. I was very selective in the things we talked about"
  
  

4. To Mentor or Not to Mentor

• "I see a potential, I encourage them, I make whatever roads smoother for them to help them move on and many of them were masterís students that I helped in achieving a doctoral degree. They needed help to help them realize that they had the ability to reach their goals."
  
  
• "I feel a debt of gratitude that I could probably never repay. The only way that I know to kind of make a difference in terms of the repayment is for me to try and help somebody else to do the same thing, and it has to be a person of color. I feel like in order to make certain that the investment that she put in terms of the time and continues to put in pays off for another person, not just me, because we develop one person at a time and really to develop more African American women"

• "I think as nurses we need to be connected, and tha'ís really what the soul of nursing is all about. It's not just individuals all functioning without being related, it's when we unite and speak with one voice, we're stronger. So for me, mentoring is a part of building the profession, not just building me, but it builds the profession."

• Time consuming
• An overbearing mentor
• Inaccessibility of mentor

Discussion & Conclusions
1. How do African American nurse leaders in higher education characterize their mentoring relationships?

• Positive (supportive, nurturing, encouraging, trusting)
• Natural working relationships
• Mentor others (give back)

2. How do African American nurse leaders in higher education perceive the effects of mentoring relationships on their professional lives?

• positive (self-confidence, self-awareness, enhanced productivity)
• influential on professional life
• influential in decision to become a nurse leader
• made a difference in career advancement

3. What are the differences and similarities between the characterizations of African American nurse leaders with same-race mentors and those with different-race mentors?

• More similarities than differences (benefits, commonalities)
• Statistically, differences not significant

Implications for Nursing and Higher Education

• More individualized mentoring relationships
• Initiating mentoring relationships between student and faculty in undergraduate/graduate school
• Acknowledging and discussing differences
• Recognizing potential, regardless of race
• The inclusion of individualized mentoring as part of the service component of tenure

Recommendations for Future Research

1.The application of Levinson's adult developmental theory in studying mentoring

2. Replicating the study with the inclusion of other race leaders in different areas of the nursing profession, e.g., healthcare settings

3. Methodologically - the utilization of the MES to strengthen its reliability and validity

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