Rural Mentorships in Health Care: Factors Influencing Their Development and Sustainability

BACKGROUND: The need to recruit and retain health care providers remains a concern in rural communities. This project aimed to better understand what health care providers and senior leaders value in mentorship and determine the best way to implement a mentorship program in rural western Canada. METHOD: Health care providers and senior leaders from a rural health region were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling. Participants were interviewed using a semistructured interview guide, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Two main themes were revealed: rural mentorship challenges and facilitators. Challenges included administrative, scope of practice, and interpersonal, whereas facilitators included mentorship as a recruitment and retention strategy, openness and commitment, structured mentorship programs, and community influence. CONCLUSION: This information will enable administrators and educators to more successfully implement mentorship programs for a variety of health care professionals working within rural environments and facilitate staff development, recruitment, and retention. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2018;49(7):322-328.