Is there enough mentoring in nursing?

This paper examines the debate about the benefits of mentoring in nursing and argues that the evidence indicates that mentoring is a professional behaviour that contributes to career success and the development of professional leaders. Some strategies to facilitate mentoring are suggested. As well, the paper presents the findings from analysis of four studies which provided data on the incidence of mentoring among 317 nursing unit managers, 368 clinical nurse specialists, 478 RNs entering a graduate course and 235 of the latter group on completion of their course. The results show that, of those who reported their mentoring experience, more unit managers (45%) than clinical specialists (35%) experiencing mentoring and that 79% of graduating RNs reported that they had increased their mentoring of others since beginning their course. The overall incidence of mentoring was lower than that reported in the United States. Reasons for the findings are discussed.