{"id":217737,"date":"2025-05-07T09:10:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T13:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/?p=217737"},"modified":"2025-05-21T13:26:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T17:26:51","slug":"novice-nurses-and-their-mentors-learn-and-grow-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/healthy-tomorrows\/novice-nurses-and-their-mentors-learn-and-grow-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Novice nurses and their mentors learn and grow together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Registered Nurse Ilona Freill (left) is passionate about mentoring novice hemodialysis nurses like Monica Figueroa (right).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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

\u201cI wish I had somebody kind and friendly to take me under their wing,\u201d says the registered nurse in The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s Hemodialysis Unit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about mentorship programs at The Ottawa Hospital and how they are helping to nurture the next generation of nurses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clinical Scholar Ilona provides mentorship at the bedside<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ilona\u2019s 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 \u2014 a transition she says was made a lot smoother thanks to Ilona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Hemodialysis Unit is a very fast-paced environment, so making the switch was at first a bit of a challenge,\u201d recalls Monica. \u201cBut 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\u2019m still learning a lot from her today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Ilona is now back to her regular role in the Hemodialysis Unit, she\u2019s more passionate than ever about setting novice nurses up for success. \u201cThe Clinical Scholar role will be with me until the day I retire,\u201d she says with a smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Registered<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Clinical Coach Cynthia leads and inspires\u2026 in retirement<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis has been the highlight of my 48-year career,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it\u2019s not just novice nurses who\u2019ve come to Cynthia for advice. \u201cNurses who\u2019ve retired are asking me how to become a Clinical Coach,\u201d she\u2019s proud to report. \u201cA lot of nurses aren\u2019t ready to completely give up. Once a nurse, always a nurse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Clinical
Meet Clinical Coach Cynthia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Clinical Nurse Expert Jean-Ann helps Kassandra build her confidence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy 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,\u201d recalls Registered Nurse Jean-Ann Reed-Flieler, who just wrapped up a term as a Clinical Nurse Expert on the Civic Campus Birthing Unit. \u201cBeing able to work alongside the novice nurses was extremely rewarding, as I got to see them grow and develop confidence in their skills.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJean-Ann\u2019s mentorship has been foundational to my growth as a new nurse,\u201d says Registered Nurse Kassandra Lanthier. \u201cShe\u2019s helped me develop my critical thinking and feel more confident in assessing situations and identifying next steps. I\u2019ve also appreciated her sharing her \u2018practice pearls\u2019 \u2014 those small but powerful insights that have really shaped how I approach patient care and facilitate my work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More opportunities for learning and growth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Opportunities for growth, mentorship and transition are easy to come by at The Ottawa Hospital. Here\u2019s a snapshot of just a few of our many other programs that are guiding the next generation of nurses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n