title: Developing a national mentorship scheme to enhance the contribution of clinical academics to health care.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To provide a template for developing a national mentoring scheme to enhance the contribution practitioner researchers can make to the quality of health care in England.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  The authors describe the background to and organisation of a mentorship scheme to support those awarded National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) fellowships as part of the Clinical Academic Training (CAT) scheme for nurses, midwives and the allied health professionals in England.
  
  
  METHODS
  The paper draws on relevant policy documents to explain the development of the NIHR mentorship scheme. It also reviews the literature regarding mentoring in nursing and the health professions.
  
  
  METHODS
  The review was conducted systematically using keywords: mentorship, clinical academic careers, research, nursing research, clinical academic careers, evidence, health care. Databases included PubMed, CINAHL and Google Scholar. An integrated approach was adopted.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Kirkpatrick's ( 2006 ) four-level evaluation model provided a framework to evaluate the scheme and explore the role of mentorship in supporting NIHR fellows. Preliminary findings from baseline and end-of-year evaluations revealed mentees' expectations of mentorship and its effects on their professional development. Developing a career as a clinical academic can be a challenging journey for novice researchers. In addition, there is a vital need to integrate research with clinical practice.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mentoring appears valuable in enabling NIHR fellows to navigate the challenges of demanding clinical roles in England's National Health Service while making a high-level contribution to research. The importance of preparing mentors for their role is well documented in the literature but mentees also need preparation and guidance to manage this important relationship.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The evaluation has implications for embedding similar schemes across nursing, midwifery and the allied health professions to promote capacity and leadership in clinical academic careers. This study has uniquely identified the need to support mentees as well as mentors in such programmes to ensure the optimal benefit of the programme reaches all participants.
authors.affiliation: School of Health and Social Work, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield, UK.
authors.forename: Geraldine
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Byrne
authors.forename: Annie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Topping
authors.forename: Sally
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kendall
authors.forename: Berenice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Golding
mesh_terms: D000047:Academies and Institutes / Q000458:organization & administration*; D035843:Biomedical Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D008611:Mentors; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: Mentorship; clinical academic careers; evidence; health care; nursing research