Make or break

It is something we are all aware of: every team member has a part to play in ensuring their practice runs as smoothly as possible, right? Therefore, having a good mentor in place to guide an individual really is what I call one of the true ‘makes or breaks’ for team members. This can perhaps be your practice manager or one of your qualified or senior dental nurses who enjoy teaching others and imparting years of knowledge.

I think we can all say at some point in our careers we have been poorly mentored – with inadequate training and minimal to zero follow-ups from managers, which is ultimately leading to high turnovers of staff in practices. Common themes in why trainee dental nurses leave the profession early or indeed the struggles they deal with are lack of training in the workplace and feeling like they are not a valued part of the team. Let’s explore how we can combat these themes in the best possible ways.