Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver is expanding its nurse group mentoring program after it helped raise the retention rate of new nurses to 97%.
The program began in 2023 after the pandemic shifted the workforce at the hospital, which is part of Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health. By 2022, up to 80% of nurses had less than two years of experience. The change made it difficult to do one-on-one mentoring, so the system pivoted to a group model.
"The program is based on the transition shock model, and our nursing professional development practitioners initially served as mentors," Lillian Donnelly, MSN, RN, program manager of nursing professional development for the hospital. "These practitioners already had the professional qualifications, communication skills and experience to guide new nurses effectively. They led group mentoring sessions on new graduate nurse education days in a classroom setting."
After gathering feedback from the groups, the program has shifted to peer mentors instead of nursing professional development mentors.
The system also incorporates in-person skill days, evidence-based practice projects with presentations, gamification and interactive activities, and group mentoring with experienced nurses.
"Studies have shown that mentoring increases job satisfaction, reduces turnover, and encourages career planning — especially for new graduate nurses," Sarah Andre, DNP, RN, nurse residency program coordinator at the hospital, told Becker's. "The group dynamic in mentoring provides a collaborative learning environment, emotional support and knowledge sharing. Anytime you foster support and learning, it naturally improves retention."
Sessions are held for one hour once every other month through a 12-month period. During mentoring sessions, mentors listen to challenges, facilitate supportive discussions and ensure a psychologically safe space for open conversation. During months without scheduled meetings, mentors connect with their mentees via texts.
Mentors do not only help mentees with challenges; they help new graduates complete a profile sheet on their first day, discuss habit-forming goals, build trust with colleagues and check in on well-being.
Since implementing group mentoring in 2023, first-year retention rate for new graduates rose from about 80% to 97%.
Running the program
On the back end, Dr. Andre and Ms. Donnelly do a few things to keep the mentorship program running smoothly.
They schedule meetings and arrange logistics, and they standardized mentor memos and evaluations, created training resources such as microlearning modules and online courses, and structured discussion guides. After every session, they also help mentors complete memos, and conduct midpoint and end-of-program evaluations. After reviewing those evaluations, they decide what adjustments to make.
The future of the program
Dr. Andre and Ms. Donnelly said there are a few improvements coming to the program soon.
- Expanding the program to two years instead of one.
- Assigning two mentors per group.
- Surveying new graduates about the discussion topics they find most valuable.
- Maintaining a focus on self-care and well-being in new nurses.
"We recognize that this is a new generation of nurses, and we must adapt our programs to meet their evolving needs," Ms. Donnelly said.