Changing The Paradigm For Newly Graduated Nurses’ Intent To Leave Through An Emeritus Rn Virtual Mentoring Program In An Acute Care Hospital Setting

Author

Lacy EynonFollow

Date of Award

January 2025

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Yale University School of Nursing

First Advisor

Mary Ann Camilleri

Abstract

The U.S. nursing shortage presents a critical challenge to healthcare organizations, withwide-reaching implications for patient safety and financial sustainability. High nurse turnover contributes to increased staffing costs, estimated at $56,300 average cost per nurse replaced. This shortage directly impacts patient outcomes including increased rates of medical errors, patient mortality and decreased overall quality of care. Supporting early-career nurses through mentorship programs is a promising strategy to improve professional development and retention, thereby addressing clinical and economic consequences workforce shortages. This DNP Project developed and implemented an Emeritus RN Virtual Mentoring Program utilizing experienced emeritus nurses to mentor nurses with less than one year of experience. The program was evaluated utilizing descriptive and bivariate statistics. The results indicate modest increase in scores post-implementation but did not achieve statistically significant change. While the findings demonstrate an observed increased trend in perceptions of confidence, the high variability in scores highlights in this small group of participants (N 20) along with program evaluation results suggests the need for program modifications tested with larger group of participants. Program evaluation revealed difficulty in meeting coordination which may have been a barrier to meaningful engagement, likely impacting the results. Generational communication barriers included different texting styles, emojis, and language use. It is recommended that a larger participant group include schedule matching as part of the pairing process and extending the cycle to 6 months to facilitate mentor-mentee engagement. Also, pre-training mentors and mentees on generational communication conventions can avoid misunderstandings and facilitate engagement.

Comments

This is an Open Access Thesis.

Recommended Citation

Eynon, Lacy, "Changing The Paradigm For Newly Graduated Nurses’ Intent To Leave Through An Emeritus Rn Virtual Mentoring Program In An Acute Care Hospital Setting" (2025). Yale School of Nursing Digital Theses. 1186.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/ysndt/1186