The stakeholders’ role in informal mentoring: a qualitative descriptive study of nurses and midwives working in acute care settings

Aim: To understand the role of stakeholders (mentee, mentor, and the organisation) in informal mentoring of nurses and midwives working in acute care settings.

Design: A qualitative descriptive study guided by reflexive thematic analysis. This manuscript was written in adherence to the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research.

Methods: Semi-structured interviews with a convenience sample of 35 nurses and/or midwives working in three regional hospitals in Uganda were conducted between June and September 2022.

Results: Five overarching themes were identified reflecting nurses’ and midwives’ perceptions on building blocks of successful mentoring; approaches to mentor/mentee selection; varied strategies for mentoring in hospital environments; responsibilities of the stakeholders; and mentoring being a win-win for all stakeholders. Collectively, these themes highlight the input, processes, and short-term outcomes of engaging nurses and midwives in mentoring within acute care settings.

Conclusion: Our findings reveal that informal mentoring offers advantages comparable to those of formal mentoring programs. These findings also challenge the prevailing notion of unidirectional mentoring. Mentees, just like mentors, play a proactive role in the informal mentoring process. Furthermore, the organisation is not simply a contextual variable; it actively contributes to the dynamics of informal mentoring relationships. The study also highlights the potential for inter-unit and inter-facility mentoring.

Clinical trial number: Not applicable.