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Conflict and harmony

Although trust is essential for a successful mentoring relationship, any system of close working relationships has the potential for conflict or distrust that can hinder cooperation and harmony (Dirks and Ferrin, 2001; Gurtman, 1992; Hunter, 2005). However much a mentor might strive to nurture their relationship with a student, interpersonal value differences can create conflict (Kuokkanen and Leino-Kilpi, 2001), and attachment styles may be incompatible (Gormley, 2008). It is theoretically possible to identify healthy and unhealthy attachment styles for mentoring, in which, for instance, good mentors are able to combine the friendship of a mutual bond alongside a more

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objective teacher role (Gormley, 2008). Scandura and Pellegrini (2004) suggest that where both mentor and mentee have secure (interdependent) attachment style, the arrangement is likely to be more successful than if either party is anxious/ambivalent (dependent) or worse still, avoidant (counterdependent). Inner conflict can also be an issue for mentors, and in a study of the clinical educator role for Australian speech pathology students, (a position similar to that of the mentor in nurse education), Higgs and McAllister (2005) proposed that heightened self awareness and self-congruence could support a harmonious mentor-student relationship.

Mentors can also experience conflict and a sense of vulnerability through being pulled in different directions and juggling different discourses (Orland-Barak, 2002). For example, nurturing and evaluating are identified as contradictory mentor roles in the training of teachers, social workers, occupational therapists and physiotherapists (Le Maistre et al., 2006). Role conflict is defined as ‘the simultaneous occurrence of two or more role expectations such that compliance with one would make compliance with the other more difficult’ (Katz and Kahn, 1978: 204). Le Maistre at al (2006: 352) report mentors manage the conflict between nurturing and evaluating by ‘gradually withdrawing themselves from the supervisory role as they take on the evaluative role’. The related concept of role ambiguity, which occurs when role expectations are unclear (Beehr, 1995), also seems to contribute to mentors’ uncertainty (Orland-Barak, 2002).

Phillips et al’s (2000: 40) influential UK nurse education mentor study identifies that ‘the problem of role-conflict is widespread, serious, unresolved and increasing’. They draw on evidence of conflict between the different roles of supervision, teaching,

assessment, subject expertise, attention to patients’ and their families’ needs, and collegial and management responsibilities. They also acknowledge, however, that regardless of the mentor role, conflict among, for example, managing care, supporting colleagues and providing care, is a ‘fact of life’ in nursing (Phillips et al., 2000: 44). Nevertheless, the idea of mentoring as a ‘bolt-on activity’ causing potential conflict with the priorities of caring for patients (Spouse, 2001b: 13) has caused widespread concern.

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Similarly, Nettleton and Bray (Bray and Nettleton, 2007; Nettleton and Bray, 2008) warn of conflict generated by an emphasis on assessment overshadowing other mentoring activity. These studies seem to suggest a compartmentalised view of nursing and mentoring work, yet mentoring actually demands more fluid approaches, which involve an understanding the different ‘worlds’ students experience. Being able to acknowledge and manage the different expectations appears to be a key mentor quality.

Stress and flow

As well as having to manage their different roles and responsibilities (Bray and Nettleton, 2007; Neary, 2000), there are some nuanced and sensitive aspects of the role that can be emotionally and intellectually demanding for mentors, for example, giving negative feedback to students (Clynes, 2008) and developing students’ intellectual competencies (Moseley and Davies, 2008). The added pressures of time management (Corbett and Bent, 2005; McCarthy and Murphy, 2010) and a ‘continual sense of urgency’ (Phillips et al., 2000: 38) can be stressful for mentors. Together, these studies suggest that mentors can be overextended and burdened, and combined with reports of the lack of formal organisational support (Jones, 2004; Moseley and Davies, 2008; Myall et al., 2008; Nettleton and Bray, 2008; Pulsford et al., 2002), suggest mentors may not be as effective as they would wish.

Overwhelming demands can also lead to mentors experiencing stress. Stress is described as an ‘unpleasant emotional experience associated with elements of fear, dread, anxiety, irritation, annoyance, anger, sadness, grief and depression’ (Skakon et al., 2010: 110). It occurs when people perceive that the demands placed upon them exceed their personal resources for meeting those demands (Shirom, 2002). In this context, people may not always feel confident to handle work challenges, and this could negatively affect their sense of self-worth (Lazarus, 1999). However, when challenge is studied in relation to a person’s skill or ability to meet that challenge, it can reveal what Csikszentmihalyi (1990) called flow. According to Csikszentmihalyi (1990: 4), the flow experience is a condition in which ‘people are so involved in an activity that nothing else

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seems to matter at the time’ and the experience is so enjoyable that they will do it even at great cost, simply for the sheer sake of doing it. As Figure 2.3 shows, flow experience can occur when highly challenging situations are accompanied by sufficient skills, whereas a lack of skills is more likely to be associated with anxiety, worry or apathy, depending on the level of challenge (Bassi et al., 2007). Whereas flow can enrich everyday life, the converse could be draining, especially if the anxiety, worry, boredom and apathy were perceived as stressful.

Figure 2.3 The quality of experience as a function of the relationship between challenge

and skill (Hektner et al 2007:143)

Studies of flow experience in the workplace have examined schools and offices (Hektner et al., 2007), although until very recently this topic has not been investigated in health care. Bringsén et al (2011) found that nurses were more likely to experience flow when they were engaged in ‘medical care’ rather than ‘individual nursing care’, reflecting perhaps, perceptions of greater skills and challenges associated with these more

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(Bringsén et al., 2011; Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). It remains unclear how mentoring a student in the workplace might affect the dynamic between challenges and skills for mentors.

Willingness to mentor

Surprisingly few studies consider the willingness of nurse mentors. Some

insights offered by research into closely related roles in accountancy, veterinary practice, technicians and civil servants, indicate that willingness to become a mentor depends on a complex mix of personal disposition (Allen, 2003; Niehoff, 2006) and personal

background (Allen et al., 1997; Wang et al., 2009), for example, attachment styles combined with previous experience of being mentored. Moreover, different approaches to mentoring may arise, depending on whether motives are altruistic or instrumental (Allen, 2003). For example, altruistic motives may include a desire to support others, whereas instrumentalism relates primarily to considerations of one’s own career development. One may speculate that the altruism identified in nurses (De Cooman et al., 2008) predisposes them towards mentoring, although studies in other professions suggest mentors can be deterred by concerns about personal self-efficacy and the perceived need for skill and energy (Ghislieri et al., 2009). Similarly, experienced

mentors are more likely to weigh up the expected costs, for example, its adverse impact on reputation or the drain on time, rather than consider the benefits, such as self

enhancement or enhancing the well-being of others (Ragins and Scandura, 1999).

One possible benefit of mentoring could be enhanced job satisfaction, with the skilled performance of emotional labour being one source of satisfaction. Although emotional labour is commonly framed as a burden, there is evidence in the literature of pleasure and satisfaction arising from it, particularly if it gives meaning to the work (Guy et al., 2008) or if ‘deep acting’ emotional labour is achieved (Hülsheger and Schewe, 2011). For example, a teacher mentor study identified the ‘pleasure’ that comes from emotional labour that is ‘sharply focused on a greater good’ (Bullough and Draper 2004: 285). This finding suggests how a moral imperative can extend into mentoring roles.

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Gully (2005) demonstrates a moral and deeply personal dimension in the nurse-patient relationship which may even transcend emotional labour. It is possible that similar experiences exist between mentors and their students.

In summary, the personal implications of being a mentor for student nurses in practice have been explored via a mix of nursing, mentoring and work psychology sources. Overwhelming demands and role conflict could lead to mentors experiencing stress. Conversely, having the personal resources to cope effectively with such role demands can lead to flow and job satisfaction. It is unclear how having a student present in the workplace affects the dynamic between challenge and skill for mentors, or how their experience might be shaped by their technical abilities and emotional labour skills. Surprisingly little mentoring research is available to help further our understanding of willingness to mentor.