Mentorship part 1: the role in the learning environment.

Mentors play a vital role in the education of preregistration nursing students. Because the learning environments in which the students are placed are crucial for the development of the future workforce, it could be argued that mentors are the 'gatekeepers' of the nursing profession. However, the mentor's role is not an easy one and, with the added pressures of modern health care, there appear to be greater demands placed on nurses, which in turn affect the mentor's role. This article will be the first in a series of five looking at aspects of the mentor and the mentor's role in practice. This first article will focus on the mentor and the role of the mentor in practice, together with the identification of 'toxic mentors', who can hinder learning in the clinical environment. It is in working together with the mentor that students will learn the true nature of nursing from a 'hands-on' perspective, applying in practice the knowledge learned in class.