The role of the mentor in supporting new students to integrate into the practice setting and establish effective working relationships within the inter-professional team is key to nursing practice as students need to be supported in a way that will help them to flourish and reach their full potential. In this article, a winner of the JCN writing Awards, Mary Goode critically analyses the role of the mentor and explores how such a role can ‘make or break’ a student’s placement.

Mary Louise Goode, Community Nurse, Elstree Way Clinic, Borehamwood, Herts.