Understanding mentoring relationships.
Nursing embodies a universal mission to care--to comfort, heal, and be hopeful toward those entrusted to our charge through acts of compassion. Responding to this call includes the necessity to hold our nurse colleagues in high esteem. Paradoxically, the latter remains a matter of debate. Vance (1982) believes that nurses, as members of a helping profession, trained in nurturing and being aware of the benefits of working together can be able mentors. Vance (1982, 2000) further reflects that a willingness to honor and support colleagues through strong mentor connections can forge both individual and collective power in our professional endeavors. Implicit in the essence of mentoring is the resonating phenomenon, also known as the ripple effect (Stewart and Krueger, 1996; Yoder, 1990). Experiencing the process firsthand, protégés are likely to pave the way, and, in turn, their protégés will follow and leave their own imprints or legacies. Mentors set a precedent for passing along all good works. They want to share that which is heartfelt, enriching career life by embracing optimism and unity through lifelong loyalty to organized nursing and, ultimately, the profession at large.