Connecting: perceptions of becoming a faculty mentor.

The school of nursing faculty at a liberal arts university created an innovative group-mentoring course to support students' progression through the undergraduate nursing program. The foundation of the mentoring program is the dynamic relationship between novice and expert. Students are enrolled in this one-hour course for each of their four semesters in the upper division nursing curriculum. Group membership (faculty and students) is consistent throughout this time. The mentoring course requires faculty to lead a process-oriented group. Faculty are confident in teaching courses that are content-driven but have struggled with the unstructured nature of facilitating a process-oriented group. Therefore, the role of group mentor has been identified by faculty as very challenging.The purpose of this study was to explore faculty members' perceptions of assuming the role of a group mentor. Eight subjects participated in audio-taped interviews guided by open-ended questions. Four themes emerged including uncertainty, evolution, mutuality, and milieu.