title: Essential skills study shows mentorship may be failing.
abstract: As a second-year nursing student, I am taught to check the validity of research material. I was, therefore, surprised by your item Top ten 'essential' skills performed inadequately (news May 16), reporting on a study that asked mentors to list the essential skills they believed newly qualified nurses should have, and then estimate the proportion of staff who were able to carry out the skills appropriately.
authors.affiliation: Canterbury.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Anderson