The clinical resource nurse’s peer mentoring role in Seha Facilities in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Abstract

The nursing profession is premised on the moral and ethical maxim: do unto others as you would they do unto you. Advanced beginner nurses progress to become fully fledged professional nurses as a result of the socialisation, support and nurturing by the proficient and expert counterparts. Socialisation engenders a spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood within the nursing profession. However, there is evidence to suggest that nurses ‘eat their young’. In the event that advanced nurses consider themselves as dinner for the expert nurses, they are inclined to leave the profession due to their real or perceived unpalatable experiences of suffering under the tutelage of the expert nurses. Proceeding from the grounded theory paradigm, the purpose of the study is to explore and describe the extent (if any) to which the role of the clinical resource nurse affects staff retention. The study was conducted at two SEHA (Abu Dhabi Health Service Company) facilities in Abu Dhabi. The study followed a qualitative design that is explorative, descriptive and contextual in nature, with some quantitative aspects developed by means of questionnaires. The purposive non-probability sampling technique was employed in the study, with the sample size comprised of 1 Assistant Director of Nursing; 1 Acting Assistant Director of Nursing; 5 Unit Managers; 3 Clinical Nurse Coordinators; 16 Clinical Resource Nurses; 11 Graduate Nurse Interns; and 14 Registered Nurses. Quantitative data will be collected using semi-structured interviews, as well as open-ended surveys. Data was analysed qualitatively. Guba’s model in Polit & Beck (2012:582) was utilised to ensure trustworthiness of the study. Ethical requirements were considered throughout the study. Findings showed that the responsibility of peer mentoring does not rest solely on the shoulders of the CRN (Clinical Resource Nurse) but is a team effort is a team effort between senior leadership unit managers, CNCs (Clinical Nurse Coordinators) and external stakeholders such as HAAD (Health Authority Abu Dhabi), SEHA, NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council) and higher education.