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Registered Nurse Ilona Freill (left) is passionate about mentoring novice hemodialysis nurses like Monica Figueroa (right).

Looking back on her time as a new nurse, Ilona Freill wishes she had the opportunity to be mentored by more experienced nurses.

“I wish I had somebody kind and friendly to take me under their wing,” says the registered nurse in The Ottawa Hospital’s Hemodialysis Unit.

With more than 30 years of experience behind her, Ilona jumped at the chance to become a mentor to novice nurses, including new grads, internationally educated nurses and nurses looking to learn new skills.

Mentorships facilitate a smoother transition into practice for novice nurses, allow experienced nurses like Ilona to hone their leadership skills, and play a crucial role in nurse retention.

Learn more about mentorship programs at The Ottawa Hospital and how they are helping to nurture the next generation of nurses.

Clinical Scholar Ilona provides mentorship at the bedside

Launched by the Ontario Ministry of Health in 2023, the Clinical Scholar program sees experienced frontline nurses mentor their novice colleagues directly at the bedside. The program has already shown success in retaining nurses by providing strong support to novices and meaningful leadership opportunities to their mentors.

During her tenure as a Scholar, the passionate Ilona helped her colleagues with complicated procedures, answered any questions they had, and even went the extra mile and created handy checklists and how-to guides for an array of common tasks. The program empowered Ilona to ignite her creativity, as Clinical Scholars temporarily step aside from their patient assignments so they can dedicate all their time to mentorship.

Ilona’s mentorship was invaluable in helping Registered Nurse Monica Figueroa navigate her new role. Monica began her nursing journey in internal medicine but later switched to hemodialysis — a transition she says was made a lot smoother thanks to Ilona.

“The Hemodialysis Unit is a very fast-paced environment, so making the switch was at first a bit of a challenge,” recalls Monica. “But for Ilona, everything is second nature. As a Scholar, she taught me a lot of tips and techniques that have made caring for my patients easier, faster and safer. And I’m still learning a lot from her today.”

Though Ilona is now back to her regular role in the Hemodialysis Unit, she’s more passionate than ever about setting novice nurses up for success. “The Clinical Scholar role will be with me until the day I retire,” she says with a smile.

Clinical Coach Cynthia leads and inspires… in retirement

Even after hanging up their scrubs, nurses can still take on a mentorship role. While the Clinical Scholar program is a Ministry initiative, The Ottawa Hospital’s Clinical Coach program is a retention support role launched by our own Nursing Professional Practice team. Clinical Coaches are retired registered nurses from The Ottawa Hospital who provide one-on-one mentorship in critical thinking, time management, organization and prioritization.

“This has been the highlight of my 48-year career,” praises Clinical Coach Cynthia Cockram, who dedicated her entire nursing career to The Ottawa Hospital and is now graciously dedicating her retirement years to us as well.

Originally launched as a temporary pilot in 2022, Clinical Coaches became a permanent fixture in 2024 due to their success in guiding novice nurses through complex clinical situations.

And it’s not just novice nurses who’ve come to Cynthia for advice. “Nurses who’ve retired are asking me how to become a Clinical Coach,” she’s proud to report. “A lot of nurses aren’t ready to completely give up. Once a nurse, always a nurse.”

Clinical Nurse Expert Jean-Ann helps Kassandra build her confidence

A longstanding role at The Ottawa Hospital, Clinical Nurse Experts are experienced nurses who provide mentorship in critical thinking, clinical decision-making and technical skills. Until recently, mentorship support was inconsistent and Experts often had to split their time between mentoring novice nurses and taking care of patients. However, a recently completed pilot project allowed them protected time to focus on full-time mentorship without their own patient assignments.

“By having this dedicated role, I was able to focus solely on mentoring novice nurses at the elbow, which allowed me to do a better job of it,” recalls Registered Nurse Jean-Ann Reed-Flieler, who just wrapped up a term as a Clinical Nurse Expert on the Civic Campus Birthing Unit. “Being able to work alongside the novice nurses was extremely rewarding, as I got to see them grow and develop confidence in their skills.”

“Jean-Ann’s mentorship has been foundational to my growth as a new nurse,” says Registered Nurse Kassandra Lanthier. “She’s helped me develop my critical thinking and feel more confident in assessing situations and identifying next steps. I’ve also appreciated her sharing her ‘practice pearls’ — those small but powerful insights that have really shaped how I approach patient care and facilitate my work.”

With the pilot project proving a success, our Nursing Professional Practice team, in conjunction with clinical operations directors/managers, will be implementing several temporary, full-time, dedicated Clinical Nurse Expert positions again this year.

More opportunities for learning and growth

Opportunities for growth, mentorship and transition are easy to come by at The Ottawa Hospital. Here’s a snapshot of just a few of our many other programs that are guiding the next generation of nurses:

• Nursing internships, lasting up to 12 weeks, provide nurses with full-time positions under the mentorship of experienced colleagues.
• The Nursing Graduate Guarantee program supports the seamless transition of new nurses into the workforce by offering 12 weeks of full-time mentorship in a dedicated role before they assume independent practice.
• The Supervised Practice Experience Partnership Program helps internationally educated nurses return to doing what they love.

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