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Sharon Sullivan, RN, MSN, FNP, the mentor for new clinical faculty for the Grossmont College Nursing Program in El Cajon, Calif., knows "glitches" can pop up at the clinical site that could drive an inexperienced instructor toward the door. That's one reason Sullivan likes to work side by side in the clinical area with her "students," as she teaches them how to teach nursing.

Last month one of Sullivan's new instructors was taking morning report with her six nursing students when another instructor from a different college showed up with nine students in tow, ready for work on the same floor. Luckily, Sullivan was present to defuse the situation that had the potential to bring staff nurses, students, and their teachers to a boiling point.

It's those kinds of nerve-jangling situations, added to the stress of learning the role of the instructor, that most likely contributed to the low 19% return rate of adjunct and part-time instructors to the Grossmont College nursing department two years ago. The revolving door of 30 adjunct instructors with constant need for orientation began to take its toll on the 13 full-time faculty members.

Bright idea

Sullivan, like her tenured peers, was feeling burned out when she had a brainstorm: provide a mentor for the part-time instructors. Sullivan wanted the job, but she knew it would be a hard sell to college administration to pay her not to teach, especially in the throes of a national nursing faculty shortage.

Undaunted, Sullivan brought her idea to the associate dean of health professions, who liked the concept and directed her to possible funding sources outside the college. Within a few months, Sullivan obtained a mini grant from the Grossmont Healthcare District, an independent source with a similar name, and soon had six new instructors under her wing. Tenured and adjunct faculty instantly recognized the value of the mentoring program. Top college administrators also took note.

The following semester, with help from upper administration, the mentorship program again obtained needed monies from the Grossmont Healthcare District, so that Sullivan's mentoring job is now funded through the spring semester of 2008.

Bringing instructors up to speed

Sullivan suspects some of the part-time faculty shortage is due to nurses who feel the itch to teach but are hesitant because of factors such as not having written a care plan in 20 years or having no teaching experience. Cindy Thompson, a post-anesthesia care unit nurse who is a new instructor teaching fundamental nursing students at Grossmont College, says the mentorship program is phenomenal. Thompson's several fears, including — yes, care plans — were soothed by Sullivan, who instilled confidence and walked her through the sometimes overwhelming process.

Sullivan, a self-proclaimed organizational queen, provides each mentee with a binder full of hints and tips. Suggestions include how to handle the first clinical day, how to write a student evaluation, even how to pass morning meds with 10 beginning students. "It would have taken me all semester to figure this out," Mentee Scharlene Fry says. "Sharon gave me the road map."

While Sullivan's organizational skills help new instructors make it over the initial humps, she feel it's the support she offers working beside them in clinical, and sometimes just meeting for coffee, that makes the difference. Sullivan points out that part-time faculty, who typically have other jobs, do not have the time to attend campus meetings or activities and often end up feeling isolated.

As a result, Sullivan works hard to assure that her mentees get connected. She meets adjunct faculty early, two weeks before the semester starts, and introduces them to full-time faculty, as well as to each other. Throughout the semester, she stays in touch through frequent clinical visits, lunches, phone calls, and e-mails.

Whatever the secret weapon is for retaining part-time faculty at Grossmont College — whether mentorship, friendship, or the pay raise that all Grossmont faculty, full and part time, recently received — it's working. Last semester, 17 of 18 adjunct faculty returned to teach. Most say it was the mentorship program — and Sullivan — that brought them back. "If I do mentoring right, I could work myself out of a job," Sullivan humorously says.

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Gerilyn Herold, RN, MSN, is a freelance writer for NurseWeek. To comment, e-mail editorCA@nurseweek.com.