Shall I tell my mentor? Exploring the mentor‐student relationship and its impact on students' raising concerns on clinical placement

Aims To explore student nurses' and nurse mentors' perceptions and experiences of raising concerns on clinical placement and the influence (if any) of their relationship on this process. A secondary aim is to consider the above, from a regulatory perspective in light of current literature and policy developments. Background Raising concerns whilst on clinical placement has been shown to be challenging for student nurses internationally. Registered nurses in the UK (in this case called “nurse mentors”) facilitate learning and assessment in practice. However, limited research exists on the influence of the relationship between the nurse mentor and student nurse on the raising concerns process. Design A qualitative approach was used to undertake secondary thematic analysis of interview data. The primary data set was generated during a PhD study, focusing on the mentor–student dynamic and the possible influence of this relationship on students' raising concerns. Methods 30 individual semi‐structured interviews were subjected to concurrent and thematic analysis. Interviews were undertaken with student nurses (n = 16) and nurse mentors (n = 14) between April 2016–January 2018. The COREQ 32‐item checklist was used during the preparation of this article. Findings The following three interrelated analytical themes were generated from the data, “developing a mentor‐student relationship," “keeping your mentor sweet” and “the mentor role in the raising concerns process.” Conclusion Our analysis of participants' experiences and perceptions offers an original contribution to understanding the factors associated with student nurses raising concerns in practice. Student nurses and most mentors believed that students should be encouraged and supported to raise concerns, but students' decisions were strongly influenced by their perceptions of the immediate interpersonal and educational context. Similar barriers to raising concerns have been shown to exist regardless of geographical boundaries, therefore the findings of this study are nationally and internationally relevant. Relevance to clinical practice This study provides new insight into the role of the nurse mentor in supporting students who raise concerns on clinical placements. The majority of the mentor participants believed that students should be encouraged and supported to speak up if they witness poor care or unprofessional behaviour. Focusing on the compexities around raising concerns in mentorship training and updates would rovide a forum for open discussion amongst mentors and educators.