Abstract

Objective: This study was carried out to determine the perceptions and ideas of students studying at undergraduate and associate degrees in the field of health on mentoring and the necessity of mentoring and the relation between their perceptions on mentoring and their level of belonging and satisfaction to the department.

Method: The study was carried out between February 15 and May 31, 2019 with 1 012 voluntary students who were studying in the departments of a state university’s college of health and vocational school of health services. In the study, a sociodemographic characteristics questionnaire and a 5-point Likert-type Scale to Determine the Mentoring Perceptions of Students, consisting of 21 statements, and a 5-point Likert-type, 5-point Likert-type Scale to Reveal Students’ Feelings of Belonging to School, were used. Kruskal Wallis, Mann Whitney U test, Pearson,and Spearman’s rho correlation analysis were used for comparison of quantitative data as well as descriptive statistical methods (frequency) in the evaluation of the data.

Results: The mean age of the cases was 18.9±1.6 (17-42) years, 74.3% of them were girls, 51% of them had undergraduate education, 64.7% of them had formal education and 23.5% of them had education in nursing. It was determined that 34.6% of them had done an internship before. 59.2% of the students have knowledge about the concept of mentor/mentoring, 72.7% of them think that there is no mentoring application in the institutions where they study, 76.1% of them want to benefit if there is a mentoring application; and 79.5% of them wanted to receive training in an institution with a mentoring application. While a positive relationship (p: 0.001) was found between the students’ need for mentoring score, their perception of mentoring and their satisfaction with the school, and their willingness to study at another school; It was determined that there was an inverse relationship between the perception of need for mentoring and the score of perception of mentoring and the perception of satisfaction with the school (p<0.05). While there was no difference between the ages of the participants and their perceptions of mentoring, it was determined that girls had more mentoring perceptions and needs.

Conclusion: It has been determined that more than half of the students have knowledge about the concept of mentoring and they want to benefit if there is a mentoring practice in their institutions. It has been determined that female students and students studying in the department of anesthesia and elderly care have higher perceptions of mentoring needs. In this context, programmes to meet the mentoring needs of students should be developed and followed regularly.