The purpose of this essay is to critically reflect on the provision of supervisory and mentoring support to others in the workplace through teaching, learning and assessment. Evidence will be drawn from knowledge and understanding of theories and principles in the practice of supervising and mentoring people in the workplace and how this fits with the organisation's values ​​and objectives (integrity, partnership, quality and change ). Driscoll's (2007) reflective model will be used for this task. I will analyze and reflect on how I used my supervision and mentoring skills to support a new member of staff in my workplace, and I will also reflect and evaluate my own and my student's mentoring experience for any areas of improvement. Efforts will be made to maintain confidentiality throughout the essay. All names will be pseudonyms of both individuals and institutions that will be used. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Mentoring according to the Department of Health (2018), “is a relationship between an experienced person and a less experienced person in which the mentor provides guidance, advice, support and feedback to the mentee”. Mentoring can be done by anyone , at any time and in virtually any place. It is therefore a relationship that informs and enhances learning and development between a mentor and a mentee. The process can be a focused and planned relationship in which the mentor helps the mentee to achieve greater self-awareness, to identify and plan alternatives, and to initiate and evaluate actions. Mentoring relationships have a clear beginning, evaluation and end. Mentoring is a partnership that allows both the mentor and the mentee to contribute equally to the learning process as equals working together, and the relationship should be based on mutual respect, cooperation and acceptance. According to Neary (2000a), it is important for a mentor to possess some skills and experience necessary for mentoring, which. include coaching, consultancy, facilitation, standard setting, evaluation and feedback. As a mentor I prepared before meeting the new staff member. I was given full details of the new member of staff, including previous experience she had in the healthcare sector, mother of two and her age. With this information I had to discuss with my manager to ensure the new member of staff worked on the same days I was supposed to be on shift. And know the type of student my student will be and the teaching style he will adopt for her as an adult student. Aston and Hallam (2014), stated that mentors must involve their mentees by making them feel part of the team and giving them responsibilities commensurate with their level. In doing so, mentors will help create a sense of responsibility in the student. The student's first responsibility in a new work environment is to become part of the team. This facilitates the student's acceptance within the team and influences his self-esteem. I met my student for the first time and had to introduce myself to her as her mentor. Part of my job was to build an effective working relationship with my student and orient her to the department. According to Brown (2002), for two individuals who are initially unusually unknown to each other, adopting the mentor-mentee relationship presupposes that they can communicate with each other, develop a rapport, and cultivate at least a working relationship. Butif the mentee lacks clarity about what the mentee-mentor relationship is or the method of supervision, then the mentee feels like they are “hanging around waiting to be noticed.” Roger (1983) states that for such a mentor-mentee relationship to be built, it should first ensure that some key conditions prevail: individual strengths and weaknesses, culture, beliefs and mutual respect. Genuineness – as a person, honesty. Empathic understanding – being able to see situations from the other person's point of view. I first had to explain to the new staff member the number of years of service I have worked in the department and what it was like for me when I started working in the department. This was to calm her down and not make her feel like she was the first person to go through the process of becoming a new staff member on the department. In the process I oriented her towards the department in line with the NMC code (2018), which states that “the new employee must be fully integrated into their work area”. I also used the time to introduce her to other professionals within the team to make her feel welcomed and part of the team she will be working with. Nurses are expected to understand the roles and responsibilities of other health and social care professionals and seek to work with them collaboratively for the benefit of all those who require care. The multidisciplinary team's general attitude towards learning and new staff members will also have a great influence on the learning environment. A learning environment should be staffed with friendly, knowledgeable staff with a positive attitude and an encouraging time allotment for teaching. Good communication is also important to make the student feel part of the team and a culture where staff are open to new ideas and take new learning from courses. Colleagues, patients, equipment, new information and skills can have a positive or beneficial effect. negative impact on the mentee's ability to learn and therefore mentors must create a learning environment that showcases their knowledge and enthusiasm and contributes to the mentee's learning. The working environment should be safe and secure for my mentee to work. The department is very busy and can sometimes be both mentally and physically exhausting. As a mentor I need to know how to operate some of the equipment used within the department to maintain safety for both myself and the patient, so that I can confidently teach my mentee. Sometimes new staff have difficulty adjusting to the department. With continued encouragement and practice, my student was able to adapt to the ward. I also showed my mentee where to find research literature used in the work environment if he was unsure about how to use certain equipment. All of this gave my mentee the opportunity to get first-hand information about her work area and the things other team members and me will expect from her. Part of my role as a mentor was to promote positive learning for my mentee during the period. A mentor who can do a lot to increase the mentee's motivation. This can be done by sparking curiosity in the mentee and helping her aim to achieve a targeted outcome, which in my mentee's case was completing her care certificate. It is well known that people learn by doing, through practice, trial and error and, where appropriate, repetition. As a mentor, it was my responsibility to give my mentee the opportunity to practice everything I was teaching her at every stage of her learning because she had informed me that she would learn more by doing. I haveI also tried to encourage my student to embrace a collaborative learning style. A collaborative learning style is a joint intellectual effort of a student and a teacher together. This is because collaborative learning will encourage collaborative working which is an essential part of the Nursing and Midwifery Code. I took time to analyze my student's nursing certificate workbook to establish his learning needs and plan my teaching activities around his learning needs. I implemented “Andragogy,” a learning method defined by Knowles et al., (2011) as the way adults are educated. Andragogy is an approach to teaching and learning aimed at enabling individuals to become aware that they should be the originators of their own thinking. Since my student is an adult student with previous caregiving experience. I thought adopting this style would help her achieve the required result. Rogers and Horrocks (2010), identified some characteristics of adult learners which include: Adults are usually self-motivated to learn. Adults may have relevant knowledge (or flawed) professional and life experience. Open discussion is more feasible in groups of adults. Teaching can be adapted based on ongoing assessment of learning needs. Maslow's (1987) theory of the hierarchy of human needs suggests that our highest level of needs, which also has a lower priority, is our need for self-actualization. According to Maslow, our physiological needs have the highest priority, followed by safety needs, the need for belonging and love, our self-esteem needs, and finally the need for self-actualization. It could be argued that every mentor's goal is to assist their mentee in achieving self-actualization, to help the student become the best they can be with the available resources at their disposal. As for my student, her top priority was to be competent in all the skills she needed to learn to complete her care certificate at the end of the term. As a mentor, part of my role is to ensure that my mentee receives maximum support and training to achieve their proficiency in their care certificate. It was very important that I carried out my responsibilities appropriately. Leibowitz and Schlossberg (1981) identified eight different functions of a mentor: communicator, consultant, coach, consultant, broker, referral agent, advocate, benchmarker. Using the nursing certificate manual as a guide, I was able to help my student not only understand but also practice some of the skills she needed to acquire. The skills are: Understanding your role Personal development Duty of care Equality and diversity Working in a person-centred way Communication Privacy and dignity Fluids and nutrition Safely guiding adults Health and safety Infection prevention and control Information management. As a consultant, I was able to support and advise my mentee by recommending training opportunities available to my mentee to help her achieve some of her competencies. And helping review my students' plans by approving each skill as we go. As a coach I was able to help my student improve the knowledge she already possesses and her good communication skills that I noticed in her. As a communicator I was able to make my student understand the importance of good communication in health and social care. I also made sure to listen actively and interestingly.