Twenty nurses working as mentors at nine public nursing faculties in Bosnia and Herzegovina completed training for clinical mentors.  Upon the completion of training, the trainers received certificates. During 34 teaching hours they acquired knowledge about various aspects of adult education, such are learning styles and processes, communication, teaching and evaluation methodology, and their application in mentoring. Additionally trained mentors will be able to more successfully transfer knowledge to students of nursing, but will also be able to train other mentors, thus contributing to the development of future generations of nurses.

Mentors are experienced nurses who, through the mentoring process, help their future colleagues develop required competencies, gain confidence and apply acquired knowledge. Mentoring starts in clinical skill cabinets using highly sophisticated models – simulators, and continues in health institutions. In addition to experience and expertise in nursing, mentors should possess adequate skills for successful transfer of knowledge to students.

The results of the survey conducted by the Project in 2015 showed that most of the surveyed mentors had no previous training in mentoring and felt that they were in a great need of such training. The results served as a starting point for the development of the training program for mentors, containing the following units: 

1.  Adult education, learning styles and processes (4 classes)
2. Adult education methods (8 classes)
3. Visualization and presentation (4 classes)
4. Communication as a method in adult education (4 classes)
5. The importance and methods of evaluation in adult education (3 classes)
6. Clinical mentor (10 classes)
7. Gender (1 class)

In the previous period, the project supported modernization and alignment of nursing studies curricula with EU Directives and European standards and provided equipment for clinical skill cabinets. Also, scholarships are available for master and doctoral studies in nursing and the new call will be announced at the beginning of 2020.