Group e-mentoring: A new approach to recruitment into nursing

In an effort to interest young people in the nursing profession, a unique approach merging mentoring with electronic communications was developed. This program, Group Electronic Mentoring in Nursing (GEM-Nursing), aims to educate and motivate young people, ages 15-21, to consider the nursing profession as their career choice. It links students with volunteer nurse mentors across the country via e-mail and a Web site (www.gem-nursing.org). This article describes the process of creating and maintaining a virtual community of nurse mentors and potential nurses. Group e-mentoring allows nurse mentors, limited in terms of their time and geographical location, to provide advice, information and support to potential nurses. It reduces the barriers of scheduling and allows mentors to interact with many more students.