Objectives:
The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics of mentorship in the japanese nursing education community.
Methods:
The participants of this study were sophomore and graduate students and faculty members from a nursing school at a japanese university. the study was described to each of the subjects and potential participants had the choice to participate in the study. this descriptive study utilized a self-administered questionnaire that included questions about years of nursing experience, educational level, their relationship with mentors, characteristics of mentors, and mentoring behaviors. fifty-eight of 115 sophomores (group 1), all 28 graduate students (group 2), and 17 of 21 faculty members completed the questionnaire (group 3). chi-square and kruskal-wallis tests were used to investigate if differences existed among the groups. data were collected from 2001 to 2002.
Results:
The mentors' characteristics which were 1) supportive, 2) provide vision, and 3) objective/clear-thinker were similar for the three groups. group 1 and group 2 received a significantly higher percentage of support for personal problems and offered more quotable quotes from their mentors compared with group 3. group 2 received the greatest amount of mentoring support from their mentors among the three groups.
Conclusions:
Findings from the study suggest that the characteristics of mentors in the japanese nursing education community may be described as supportive, visionary, and objective/clear-thinkers. the combination of situation and position appears to influence the participants' identification of characteristics of their mentors, the type of behaviors they look for in a mentor, and if they view themselves as a mentor.