Maream ProusoontornAreewan Oumtanee2011-02-222011-02-222010-04-012010-04-01Thai Journal of Nursing Council; Vol.24 No.3 July-September 2009; 56-69http://imsear.searo.who.int/handle/123456789/132502Nurse Mentorship is an important strategy to prepare novice nurses in their transition process to become professional nurses. This strategy has been widely used in governmental hospital in Thailand. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explain the mentoring work as experienced by professional nurses who were assigned to be mentor by the ward administrators. Sixteen professional nurses were willing to participate in this study. In-depth interview, non-participant observation and document review were employed for data collection. Data were analyzed by using coding and constant comparative method.The findings of work experiences of nurse mentors consisted of 6 categories: 1) being assigned to be a mentor, 2) preparing as a mentor, 3) getting to know each another, 4) acting as a mentor, 5) getting feedback, and ending mentor’s roles. According to study findings, the mentoring work began when a head nurse assigned nurses to be a mentor for a novice. Some were assigned immediately to take a mentor’s role but some had time to prepare themselves and got to know a novice before acting as a mentor. Each mentor used self-reflection as a strategy to improve their mentor’s role. After the end of mentoring process, the mentor reported either positive or negative experiences. Mentoring work would start again when a nurse was assigned to be a mentor. From the results of this study, it is recommended that the administrators should develop an effective strategy to strengthen the nurse mentorship system. Accordingly, it can facilitate the transition process of novice nurses to professional nurses.en-USThailand Nursing and Midwifery Council, Ministry of Public Health, ThailandResearch Reports