Evaluation of a peer mentoring program for early career gerontological nursing faculty and its potential for application to other fields in nursing and health sciences

• Non-traditional mentorship is important for developing the academic nursing workforce.
• Peer mentorship can successfully assist in early career academic development.
• Peer mentorship can help early career academics to expand their professional network.
• Peer mentorship can be successfully integrated into professional organization.

BackgroundAs the retirement rate of senior nursing faculty increases, the need to implement new models for providing mentorship to early career academics will become key to developing and maintaining an experienced faculty.PurposeThis evaluation of a peer mentorship program for predoctoral and postdoctoral gerontological nurses examined its efficacy, utility, and potential for improvement.MethodsA web-based survey was developed, implemented, and completed by 22 mentees and 17 mentors (71% and 61% response rates, respectively) as part of the evaluation.DiscussionThe peer mentorship program was found to be valuable by both mentors (64.7%) and mentees (72.7%) in helping mentees further develop their careers and networks and providing mentors with supported mentorship experience.ConclusionThe peer mentorship program could serve as a model for other professional organizations, academic institutions, and consortiums to enhance and extend the formal vertical mentorship provided to early academic career individuals.