Mentoring isn't part of Vickie Maji-Takei's official job. But she benefited from the experience of an excellent preceptor and mentor early in her career, and realized that those two individuals set the foundation for how she practices today. Mentoring, she decided, was the future of nursing.

"When you first graduate, it is overwhelming and stressful to go into the real world," Maji-Takei said. "I have realized that when new graduates enter the hospital, their first interaction wherever they work will set the tone for how they feel about being a nurse, how they approach the profession and how well they do in it."

She was instrumental in establishing a graduate nurse mentoring program, pulling together the organization and details herself. The program includes initial recruitment informational parties and large doses of individual attention after hiring. Maji-Takei added a lot of those personal touches, such as recognizing birthdays, anniversaries and when an individual passed his or her boards. She maintains this personal connection with the nurses even after they are established in their respective units. As a result, nurses often seek her out as a sounding board for various problems and concerns.

She organized a group of experienced nurses who had failed their boards on the first attempt to meet with and encourage new graduates who had not passed their boards.

With this support, many of those graduate nurses were able to successfully complete their boards and go on to be productive staff members.

She also set up a nurse recognition program for the CCU called Moments of Excellence, which allows staff members to thank and recognize each other for special things. Individuals receive personalized certificates and creative prizes. The program is credited with improving morale on the unit, and other departments and physicians have become involved, too.

"I have some really strong beliefs about mentoring," Maji-Takei said. "A big part of it for me is honoring the relationship with that person, getting them off to a good start in their career."

She also believes it is important for nurses to model professional behavior and create a positive atmosphere for each other.

"It is so easy to get caught up in the negative, what we are short of or don't have. But I don't want to be a person who goes to work and is miserable three to five days a week. Life is too precious. I want to incorporate what I do into my life and be passionate about it. I can't imagine what else I could do. Nursing lets me do everything I care about."

That positive attitude is a big part of being a mentor, she said. So is being open and nonjudgmental.

"A mentor remembers what it was like to start in nursing. You are adjusting to so many things, scared about clinical skills, you want to fit in and get along with the people you work with. A mentor can help you navigate through that."