Mentoring. Career enhancement for occupational and environmental health nurses.

Mentoring is a career development and enhancement tool for occupational and environmental health nurses. A history of mentoring in the literature has provided the foundation for understanding mentoring, including the traditional and newer types of mentoring relationships. The benefits and barriers to mentoring for occupational and environmental health nurses include access and mentor-protégé qualities. Using a multiple mentor approach in which mentoring relationships change with career development, placement, and needs, rather than a traditional approach where one mentoring relationship is established early in the career and lasts throughout the career, may be most beneficial to occupational and environmental health nurses.