A phenomenological study into the impact of the sign-off mentor in the acute hospital setting.

Mentoring provides an essential quality assurance mechanism within undergraduate support and assessment of nurses. Recent changes to the standards for supporting pre-registration learners in clinical practice have provided additional structure to this process. Existing evidence suggests there are numerous challenges such as balancing clinical and mentoring priorities and making appropriate decisions; evidence about the sign-off mentor role in particular is currently lacking. This study explores the impact of the sign-off mentor role within the acute setting utilising a phenomenological approach. A purposive sample of 6 sign-off mentors contributed to data collection via the use of semi-structured interviews. Data were collected using a digital tape recorder and transcribed verbatim. Analysis of findings allowed for the development of 3 main themes which are accountability, time and commitment. A key finding of this study is the change in focus for sign-off mentors to one of assessment of clinical competence and professional regulation as opposed to mentors who have concentrated on the teaching and pastoral aspects of this role. However, sustainability requires further investment in this new role from a managerial and educational perspective. Recommendations include further attempts to embed protected time into organisational processes, the consideration of limiting students to sign-off mentors when mentoring a final placement student and negotiating maximum number of exposures to this role within a set time frame.