Developing and Testing the Negative Mentoring Experience Questionnaire (NMEQ) for Nurses

Abstract

Many nurse managers actively developed mentoring programs to shorten the acclimation period of new nurses in hospitals. The main aim was to develop a negative mentoring experience questionnaire (NMEQ) and test its validity and reliability. A cross-sectional study was employed. This study adopted questionnaire-survey method with new nurses of Taiwanese hospitals. In the main study, this study adopted reliability analysis, content, validity, construct validity and criterion-related validity analysis. 255 participants were collected, with 87.93% response rate. A total of 29 items of five-dimension scale of NMEQ were proposed: four nursing manager items, four institutional items, three other medical staff items, 12 mentor items, and six mentee items. Each dimension demonstrated a reliability of 0.72 to 0.96. Exploratory factor analysis and Confirmatory factor analysis results indicated that NMEQ had acceptable convergent and discriminate validity. Correlation analysis indicated this scale and mentoring function scale exhibited a significantly negative correlation ( p < .05). NMEQ is reliable and valid for hospital nurses. It also can help clinical nursing managers to clarify the possible negative experiences and strengthen the adaptability and mental health of new staff nurses in mentoring programs. Nursing policy planners can use NMEQ to measure the negative experience of new nurses, monitor the performance of mentoring program, and further revise mentoring policies.

Exploring the dark side of informal mentoring: Experiences of nurses and midwives working in hospital settings in Uganda

“…Sometimes there are negative experiences stemming from relational dynamics, specific mentoring processes and the broader hospital context. These findings are consistent with findings from Huang et al (2023), who identified dimensions of negative mentoring as mentor, mentee and management-oriented factors in their quantitative study done among nurses. The problems arising from relational dynamics resulted in behaviours that were considered inappropriate for the normative functioning of the mentoring relationship.…”

“…Challenges in mentoring can stem from relational dynamics, specific mentoring activities or the broader work environment-the hospital. From a functional perspective, mentoring challenges manifest in various ways: a complete lack of mentorship, mentors being inaccessible or the presence of mentors without the appropriate qualifications (Huang et al, 2023;Wissemann et al, 2022). Mentors often cite challenges such as heavy workloads, time constraints, competing priorities, mentees who are reluctant to learn and a general negative attitude of new graduates towards the nursing/midwifery profession (Merga et al, 2020;Rohatinsky et al, 2020).…”

“…Mentors often cite challenges such as heavy workloads, time constraints, competing priorities, mentees who are reluctant to learn and a general negative attitude of new graduates towards the nursing/midwifery profession (Merga et al, 2020;Rohatinsky et al, 2020). On the relational side of mentoring, nurses and midwives have reported mismatch within the mentoring dyad based on factors such as personality, leadership styles and teaching styles (Huang et al, 2023;Rohatinsky et al, 2018). Issues of poor communication and perceived disrespect further exacerbate these challenges (Eller et al, 2014).…”

“…Issues of poor communication and perceived disrespect further exacerbate these challenges (Eller et al, 2014). The hospital has contributed to negative mentoring through factors such as the lack of structured mentoring programmes, an unsupportive mentoring culture and an absence of career development positions that would bolster career advancement through mentoring (Huang et al, 2023;Kramer et al, 2021;Rohatinsky et al, 2018).…”

The Current Status of Research Mentoring in Nursing Across 4 Countries

“…Leaders from Taiwan referenced a mentee story that was given great attention in Taiwan, emphasizing the importance of mutual communication, respect, and recognition with strong encouragement by mentors 33. Indeed, in a study in Taiwan,34 the characteristics of bad mentees included “poor response,” “poor communication,” and “too serious self-defense.” The leaders from South Korea also emphasized effective communication between the mentors and the mentees. One of the leaders said that good mentees would be active learners and good communicators who seek the mentors' advice frequently, and good mentees would seek advice from their seniors and peers in advance.…”