Psychiatric nursing students' experiences of having a mentor during their first practice placement: an Irish perspective

Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from six students who had just completed their first practice placement. Findings suggest that having a mentor made a significant contribution to student learning. However, one student described difficulties caused by the absence of the named mentor and as a consequence, this student became preoccupied with 'fitting in' and 'learning the routine'. This was in sharp contrast to the other students who described the effective strategies utilised by their mentor to maximise the learning opportunities. Bearing in mind the small sample size and the fact that the study was completed following the students' first exposure to a mentor, the findings provide some useful insights on the value of having an effective support mechanism for psychiatric student nurses.