Creating a Mentoring Culture for New and Seasoned Chief Nurse Executives in a Health System

Chief Nurse Executives (CNEs) are the key to top performing quality and service in hospitals today, and retaining leaders in this role is a priority in today's healthcare environment. Transition to the role of CNE to a new organization can be a challenging time for a new and even seasoned CNE who was considered an expert in his/her previous organization. In a large and complex health system, the problem can be more pronounced, leading to an increase in turnover and potentially seriously limiting the success of strategic initiatives for any organization. Utilizing a mentor framework of support can mitigate the chance of CNE turnover and provide mentoring opportunities for seasoned CNEs already enculturated into the organization. A strong sense of community and relationship can lead to decreasing CNE turnover and increasing retention which can have strong implications across a health system. This literature search and a proposed formal mentoring framework serves as one strategy a system CNE can implement to improve outcomes and increase the depth and value of the relationships among CNEs in a large system.