Purpose – Enhancing student opportunity and providing an outstanding learning experience within an increasingly competitive market requires a multifaceted approach to learning. This paper aims to show how a social enterprise initiative can help students differentiate their offering to the workplace and in doing so develop skills that promote elegant self-management. Design/methodology/approach – The research is a continuous project to gather data to evaluate on the effectiveness of enterprise activities and will incorporate both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, through what is largely an action research study. Findings – This paper presents one approach to the challenge of student engagement, by encouraging choice and being proactive in adding value to CV's, through student led practical initiatives. Lecturers assist in managing student expectation and embedding realism; the realism of the need for transferable employability skills, and the challenges and opportunities faced during times of change. By enthusing students (and feedback suggests this is happening in our current project) a virtuous circle is created, manifested in increased graduate student employment and a competitive edge. Originality/value – This is an experiential project of creating an enterprise committee which enhances the learning experience, teaches students how to take theory and apply it in real situations, and builds their confidence. By linking vocational and reflective modules’ to entrepreneurial skills, a balance is struck not just between academia and employability but also work and life, addressing the contemporary challenge of not just teaching students business theory or employability skills but of practical self-management.

Nurses are graduating from educational programs and entering health care systems at a time of great turmoil because of the COVID-19 pandemic. To support the transition to practice, nursing faculty implemented a postgraduation mentorship program (START). This exploratory study sought to describe the faculty mentor and new graduate mentee experience. Related variables (NCLEX pass rates, perceived stress, and professional quality of life) are provided to contextualize the results. The research is significant given the burden the pandemic places on the health care system, which may limit the resources available to new graduate nurses.

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