Professional guides: bridging the gap between student and professional an assessment and challenge.

Orientation and socialization of new nurses is both a time intensive and costly endeavor. Positive mentorship experiences during instruction are crucial to optimum development and growth of expert nurses. Research has shown an increase in the attrition rate for new graduate nurses (Mills & Mullins, 2008, Ali & Pantaer, 2008). The attrition rate is attributed to the lack of adequate mentorship by professional nurses to new registered nurses as they transition from the student to professional role. The expenditure to hire, train, and orient a new registered nurse is equivalent to a registered nurse earned income of one year (Mills & Mullins, 2008). In order to combat some of these issues, attention must be directed at supporting the nursing student during nursing school and facilitating a smooth transition for the student entering the nursing profession. A program has been developed to ease the transition from student to professional which commences during the nursing student's junior year and progresses to graduation. This preliminary exposure to a structured mentorship program during nursing school provides the nursing student the opportunity to experience and utilize their mentor to smooth the transition from nursing student to registered nurse.