Mentorship Program

Late in 2021 the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) approached Turning Point, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’s (Ahpra’s) preferred provider for the delivery of the Nurse & Midwife Support (NMS) service, to request proposals for a number of targeted enhancements for NMS. These resources were to be designed to support the transition to independent practice/graduate years. These enhancements would also include a mentoring program connecting early career professionals with experienced nurse and midwife mentors that is tailored to the Australian landscape.

The NMS Mentorship Program design focuses on building nurturing and collaborative relationships to support new graduates during the initial phase of work and ultimately maintaining a stable nursing and midwifery workforce. In the pilot phase, we will seek to evaluate and provide an evidence-based mentorship program that is suited for the Australian health landscape via a sustainable online program. The ongoing NMS Mentorship program is expected to be rolled out in August 2025. 

By linking new graduates to contemporary, experienced and competent nurses and midwives, new graduates will be able to leverage on the knowledge and experience of our senior workforce and be supported to embed their scope of practice within the standards of practice applicable to their registration status. The design of an online platform means a standardised and nationally available support program can be applied to all new graduates across Australia. It will be carried out over a period of two years with regular scheduled interaction between mentors and mentees.

To better understand the support requirements, a pilot NMS Mentorship project is currently taking place. This will occur between May 2023 and April 2025 and involves 50 new graduates and 50 mentors. Through the expression of interest link on various platforms, we engaged in strategies to recruit from the diverse practice settings for both nurses and midwives (urban, rural and remote; hospital and out of hospital practice, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners as well as practitioners who are culturally and linguistically diverse). We endeavoured to meet the specific requirements/goals of mentees and mentors through a manual matching process. Throughout the mentorship program an opportunity for rematching will exist, if required. All participants will be subjected to the evaluation process pre, intra and post project to provide qualitative information that will help inform us on best practices