Nursing educators conference focuses on mentorship

Beverly Malone has reached great professional heights. She holds a master’s degree in psychiatric nursing and a doctorate in clinical psychology. She has served as president of the American Nurses Association, deputy assistant secretary for health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and chief executive officer of the National League for Nursing, her current position.

Much of her success she owes to her mentors, Malone told nearly 100 nursing educators gathered June 17 on campus. Malone’s keynote address opened the two-day National Strategy: Building Environments for NCLEX Success Leadership Institute II, presented by the Center of Excellence for the

Dr. Beverly Malone emphasizes a point during her presentation at the two-day National Strategy: Building Environments for NCLEX Success Leadership Institute II, presented by the Center of Excellence for the Elimination of Health Disparities at WSSU.

Elimination of Health Disparities at WSSU.

“Mentors are people who can show you the difference between a wall and a door,” Malone told her audience. While the business world has long embraced the mentor concept, nursing has “been a little slow on the uptake, partly because we’ve thought, ‘I got mine the hard way.’

“Hard knocks and blows come for everyone, but mentors can offer you the most efficient way through the system.”

Mentors come in many forms, Malone noted, from the third-grade teacher who told her she was smart to the hospital clerk who kept scheduling the young nurse on night shifts (motivating Malone to earn her doctorate) and the psychology dean who, 25 years later, still recommends her for board positions.

Mentoring means choosing someone out of the crowd and investing in them – sometimes because that person reminds you of yourself.  And good mentors need their own mentors, Malone said. “Identify who you want to be, even if that means you just want to learn how to thrive in your current position, and then identify someone who can help you.”

Dr. Sylvia Flack, executive director of the Center of Excellence for the Elimination of Health Disparities and immediate past dean of the School of Health Sciences, welcomed the conference attendees. The original impetus for the center and for the leadership institute, Flack said, was to address critical needs – the elimination of health disparities and increasing the number of minority educators holding leadership positions in nursing programs.

Sessions throughout the two days looked at leadership roles, developing the use of technology, relationship-building for program success, integrating diversity, and promoting student academic integrity.

Arkia Chisholm, a graduate nursing student at WSSU, attended the conference for the chance to be assigned a mentor along with some 25 other protégés. Chisholm’s professors tell her that the job outlook for nursing educators is mixed. While demand is good, many universities are struggling with budget cuts and staffing layoffs.