Mentoring new nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit: impact on satisfaction and retention.

With the retirement age of baby boomers drawing near, neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) need to retain and develop new talent. Several hospitals have formed mentoring committees in an effort to preserve new graduate nurses by helping them acclimate to their new units. This has proven to have a tremendous cost savings in specialty areas such as the NICU. This article will describe the advantages of developing a mentoring program in the NICU as well as the importance of understanding how generational differences need to be addressed to best utilize the talent pool of nurses.