100 Educating Kansas’ Healthcare Workers for over KUMC Faculty Years

Mentoring: Reading the Signs & Knowing Where to Refer Your Mentee for Personal Problems Affecting Their Performance Elizabeth C. Penick, PhD William F. Gabrielli, Jr., MD, PhD

Issues  When and when not to be concerned.  Medical illness.  Personal issues.  Performance issues.  Healthy lifestyle development.  Match of training, skill, and expectations.  Success measurement issues.  Mentor & mentee match.

When and When Not to Be Concerned  Does the Mentee want you to be concerned?  Is the situation likely to resolve itself spontaneously with patience?  Is the problem so concerning that something needs to be done?  Is the situation such that if intervention didn’t occur an invaluable opportunity might be missed?  Is the situation one that should be addressed in another venue and if addressed could you harm the mentor-mentee relationship?  Do you need to wear an “Institutional” hat?

Medical Issues  Is there a depression, thought disorder, mania, eating disorder, or severe anxiety disorder present?  Severe persistent sleep disturbance, sadness, loss of interest in most pleasurable activities, difficulty with concentration, excessive preoccupation with weight and/or appearance, consistent and excessive irritability, reckless behavior, fanciful activities, significant false fixed belief systems, disturbances of perception, substantially interfering worry, obsession, rituals.  Do these symptoms consume a substantial amount of energy and focus and significantly interfere with social or occupational performance, or have significant other medical consequence?

Medical Issues  Are there other significant unaddressed medical conditions that impair performance?  Inadequately controlled diabetes, asthma, hormonal, gynecological, GI, musculoskeletal, neurological, or other illness or condition.  Is the impairment causing substantial interference on a consistent or very frequent basis and likely to continue to do so?

Personal Issues  Are there personality issues that interfere with performance?  Examples: narcissistic, antisocial, paranoid, dependent, avoidant, obsessive-compulsive.  Is this character consistent and sufficiently severe to make usual mentoring and professional relationships difficult?  Is there an alcohol or substance abuse issue? Gambling addiction?

Performance Issues  Is performance in typical or usual professional dimensions not up to standard?  Were expectations not correct?  Were predictor measures not correct?  Has there been a change in ability?  Are the measures correct?  Has there been insufficient resource or is there unexpected interference?  Are the performance measures improving in the direction of target, following a stable trajectory, or falling behind?

Healthy Lifestyle Development  Are there ways to encourage healthy lifestyle improvements?  Time out for family/social activity, arts, sports, other intellectual activities and other pursuits.  Proper attention to healthy diet, sleep, exercise activities—a well rounded life.  Work in its place can actually be more productive because work-time can be more efficient.

Match of Training, Skill, Expectations  Do the expectations match background, skill, and training?  Insufficient prior training, mentoring, or knowledge can be a setback.  Inability to complete the expected tasks can be very difficult. Can the skill be acquired?

Success Measurement  Are we judging performance accurately and fairly?  Do we have the correct method of assessment?  Are we choosing the right measures of success?  Is there success in one dimension that compensates for lack of success on another?

Mentor & Mentee Match  Do the Mentor and Mentee belong together?  Is there a compatible working relationship? Fit?  Are there differences in style or expectation that interferes?  Does the mentor have a medical, personal, or professional conflict that inhibits maximal mentee development?

RED FLAGS: GENERAL  Any major change in your mentee’s affect or behavior that concerns you.

RED FLAGS: SPECIFIC  Mood/ Tension/ Emotional Reactions (depression, apathy, withdrawn, agitation)  Concentration/ Attention/ Follow Through (distractibility, problems with memory, avoidance)  Looks Stoned/ Alcohol on Breath (erratic, disheveled, unexpected financial problems)  Interpersonal Interactions (with mentor, with family, with others)

Responses  Trying to be sensitive to the needs of the mentee.  Use appropriate targets/goals.  Facilitate availability of resources.  Offer examples of successful approaches.  Encourage lifestyle changes that facilitate a better quality of life.  Set milestones and celebrate success.  Periodically ask if another mentor might be able to add to what is already accomplished.

Resources  Medical  Counseling  Role Models  Time Management and other Skills training activities  Additional educational training.

100 Educating Kansas’ Healthcare Workers for over KUMC Faculty Years