So you think youʹre ready to mentor?: Strategies for mentoring a diverse nursing workforce

Once upon a time, in a faraway place where heroes dwelled and men and women did the bidding of Greek gods, King Odysseus of Ithaca prepared to go off to battle in the infamous Trojan War. As if the prospect of waging a war he did not wish to fight wasnʹt daunting enough, the king was especially concerned about the future of his young son, Telemachus. Given the likelihood that his absence would be long and perhaps permanent, Odysseus needed someone he could trust to develop his son into a leader with strong values and outstanding character. For this task and the responsibility of overseeing his household, he turned to his longtime friend “Mentor,” the man after whom the process of mentoring would be named. Odysseus did not know, however, that the Goddess Athena, through the body of Mentor, actually would guide his young son. As a result of Athenaʹs oversight, by the time Odysseus returned home many years later, his son had matured and developed into the man the king had hoped he would become.