Dr Gillian ChownsCo-director, Palliative Care Works

Visiting Fellow, University of Southampton

Love is .. cleaning the bath after you’ve used it

Mentoring is the process of using specially selected and trained individuals to provide guidance, pragmatic advice and continuing support, which will help the person allocated to them to learn and develop.

Armstrong 2006

The mentor is typically an expert in an area or is a leader within an organisation. They are able to offer advice, guidance and support. A mentor may choose to use coaching techniques within the mentoring relationship. Rapport is essential. Mullins 2007

 

The mentor is a senior (person) who sponsors and supports a less-experienced person. The mentoring role includes coaching, counselling and sponsorship. Successful mentors are good teachers .

Robbins 2003

Telemachus and Mentor

Supervision – overseer Coaching Training Modelling Teaching

Academic mentoring – guiding a student through a course, written task (essay, dissertation etc), research

Practical mentoring – being available for advice, guidance, ‘listening ear’ for a practitioner ; expert advice + emotional support + longer-term relationship

Specific task mentoring; clearly-defined, one-off task/activity/project during which mentor is available to mentee.

Technological mentoring – through emails, Skype etc

Accompanied (face-to-face) mentoring abroad – when a mentor travels to work alongside a mentee in another setting or organisation or country.

 

Clear contract -boundaries and accountability

Expertise

Personal relationship - trust and respect

EXTRACT FROM REFLECTIVE ESSAYAfter all we are human with feelings and get attached

to our patients. Besides sometimes the situations remind us of our own personal experiences.

You have described your feelings well, Mildred.The next paragraph probably belongs more in the

Evaluation section.  John was a broken man. However during the time

that we were providing care for his daughter, I had anticipated that his grieving would be difficult as he was loosing his only surviving family member from his immediate family. (Did you ever find what was the cause of the death of the other family members? Could this have had an impact in his grief and bereavement?)

Active listening Role modelling Clear boundaries Analytical skills Honest feedback

O – oh/oh?A – aah ...U – um ... I - I wonder ...E- the eyebrow

Modelling

Analytical skills

Feedback

Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle

Nature v. nurture – born or made? Developing your skills Learning from others Reflection, reflection, reflection

(with apologies to Barack Obama and the Palliative Care Toolkit)

Motivation - why do you want to do it?

What do you bring to the task? (S) What more do you need to bring – and how will you do this? (W)

What do you (they) want (you) to achieve? (O)

What are the likely challenges? (T)

Beforehand– Good preparation– Clear contract– Realistic expectations - Critical friend

During– Reflection– Realism– Feedback

After– Debrief

The win-win situation Mutual learning and development

Engaging with another culture Expert and innocent

Armstrong, M. (2006) A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. Kogan Page

Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by Doing. OxfordMullins, L. (2007) Management &

Organisational Behaviour . Prentice HallOlweny , C. (1994) Letter in Journal of

Palliative Care, 11(1); p56Robbins, S. (2003) Organizational Behavior.

Prentice Hall

Dr Gillian Chowns

gpatgc@aol.com

Palliative Care Works

www.palliativecareworks.org.uk