Fostering Nursing Faculty Well-Being: Developing the Pilot Trinitas Mentorship Model to Support a Healthy Academic Culture

This pilot study used Charmaz's constructivist grounded theory and Watson's theory of human caring to develop the Trinitas Mentorship Model with 11 new nurse faculty. Data from 10 monthly focus groups and pre-/post-questionnaires were analyzed. Four constructivist grounded theory categories-belonging, competency, empowerment, and work/life balance-persisted and deepened within the structured mentorship experience, with no new categories emerging. These categories shaped a three-pronged framework: Launch/Onboarding, Mentorship, and Sponsorship, with intentional mentor pairing and caring science principles embedded throughout. Findings from year 1 indicate the model strengthened recruitment, development, and retention; only 1 of 11 faculty resigned to date.