Are you a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC) or do you want to become one? Either way, the process of helping each other is within us all. We just need to activate it.
Let’s look at Mentoring from both sides: Being the mentor or being the mentee.
Mentor: someone you trust and value their experience.
Mentee: someone who receives guidance from a mentor.
Now, let’s apply these in our everyday life whether or not you’re a PLNC or plan to become one.
Mentor: As a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant, it’s important to have a mentor. Someone who has walked the path before you and is willing to guide you. Questions come up not just at the beginning of your PLNC practice, but along the way. It’s essential to have a mentor you can trust.
A mentoring relationship can come in all different shapes and sizes. For example, here at Jurex Center for Legal Nurse Consultants, EVERY PLNC Certification Course comes with mentoring. When you annually renew your PLNC Certification, you continue to keep the mentoring program.
Why is mentoring so helpful? The legal professional world is full of new concepts and experiences. As a PLNC, you’re expected to navigate these. Being able to ask your mentor for guidance can help you grow and develop your Professional Legal Nurse Consultant practice.
For example, the attorney whom you are working might ask you to “draft some interrogatories”. You can easily ask your mentor, what this means. Your mentor will be able to explain this in easy-to-understand language. Then, you’ll be in a great position to fulfill the attorney’s assignment.
Mentee: Being a good mentee is as important as being a good mentor. Utilize the mentoring program so that you can become the best version of your PLNC self.
It’s been said “when the student is ready the teacher will appear”, has been attributed to Buddha and perhaps others. Take this quote to heart.
You want to be a responsible mentee. One who values your mentor’s time and attention. Remember, being a mentor is a volunteer job. So, being respectful and organized will infinitely enhance your mentor-mentee relationship.
There are formal as well as informal mentors out there. Find one that best fits your needs. Be sure you follow through. It’s a two way street.
You attorney can also serve as your mentor. Attorneys are used to working with and helping others. Use your observation skills we were taught as a nurse. Watch, look, and listen to see how others interact and model your own behavior accordingly.
It’s also helpful to join the Professional Legal Nurse Consultant Community Facebook Group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/professionallegalnurseconsultantcommunity. Here you can learn and interact with others who have successfully traveled the same path.
Whether you choose to be a mentor or a mentee, or both, it’s up to you. You make the difference. You show up. You are prepared. You get the most you can out of your mentoring relationship. In other words, mentoring is what you make it!
P.S. What’s been your best mentoring experience?
