An Interview with Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell on Mentoring and Mentorship

Veronica P.S. Njie-Carr, PhD, RN, ACNS-BC, FWACN^✉; Alicia A. Dahl, PhD, M.S.; & Victoria Grunberg, M.S.; Women's Health SIG Co-Chairs

Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, MSN, RN

Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell is a Professor and Anna D. Wolf Chair in the School of Nursing at Johns Hopkins University and is the National Program Director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars. She is a world –renowned academic scientist and leader in research and advocacy in the field of domestic violence and intimate partner violence (https://nursing.jhu.edu/faculty_research/faculty/faculty-directory/jacquelyn-campbell). She is a master at mentoring and mentorship and epitomizes the essence of a mentor for scientists under her tutelage. Her ability to be inclusive in preparing the next generation of scientists is phenomenal. The Women’s Health SIG co-chairs interviewed Dr. Campbell to learn more about her mentoring qualities.
 

You are acclaimed for your mentorship abilities, a role model, and inspiration to hundreds, if not thousands globally. Please tell us how you do it.

My mentoring philosophy helps me mentor many people. Much of what I do is mentor people who will go on and mentor others. And that’s one of the kinds of formal and informal agreements I make with mentees – pay it forward.

Often times when I get requests to mentor someone, especially if it is a global request …somewhere around the world - I do see it as an opportunity and hopefully that's part of what I role model for others - is that mentoring is a wonderful opportunity to help empower someone else to go where they want to go in nursing and in scholarship. Plus, it gives me great joy and fulfillment to be able to mentor people, particularly, those that are committed as I am to providing assistance and empower those who face far more challenges than I have. I help secure what I call a mentoring network. So it is not just one person who is mentoring them. So that's how I do it.
 

Mentors have different values about mentoring and mentorship. Tell us about your philosophy of mentoring and mentorship.

Number one is the notion that mentorship is a partnership. I may have achieved certain things in life that my mentees have not. But that does not mean that they are not a full partner. It is a collaboration - that we work together - finding out what they need from me, and that I am building on their strengths and capabilities they already have in many ways. That mentorship is helping mentees recognize those strengths and capabilities and build on them. Also, have a network of mentors. The mentee has me in one particular area, but there are other people that I can connect them with that would be helpful in other areas where they either get additional skills or make additional contacts, or be mentored in different ways. For instance, if the mentee is a nurse, that nursing piece I'm really good at, but someone else might need mentorship in the combination of nursing and public health, or they need other mentorship around the public health pieces or if it's someone who's in social work, I get some help in that content area.

It is a collaborative process plus empowerment. I know that's a buzzword, but the notion that I'm helping them discover and have space in their existing talents, strengths, and capabilities is also a mentorship approach. It is much more of a partnership versus me, telling somebody what they should be doing. I'd love to have a few people that want to be just like me, but I'm not looking for that. I am looking for people I can provide some guidance where they want and help them where they want to go where they want to be. My philosophy is that people can outgrow me as a mentor. They may move on and that's fabulous. I don't feel like people have to be wedded to me. I am pleased to be a small part of their journey.
 

You provide quality mentorship amidst your multiple competing priorities, how do you find ways to be efficient?

The notion that it is a mentorship team is important. I do not encourage anybody to be totally relying on me for everything. For example, if someone wants a letter of support, I ask them to do their homework finding out whatever the selection criteria are. Then they will draft the letter of support, the kinds of things that needs a lot of time. It provides mentees the opportunity to know the impact of their work and how it might make a difference. It helps build confidence in what they're doing when they have to write it down and they get comfortable writing about themselves. Letters of support are important. If I agree to do it, I do it right. Just yesterday, I was working on a couple of American Academy of Nursing recommendation letters. I spent almost all day on two letters. Other people would say that's way too much time to spend on something like that. But I know how incredibly important those letters are. Part of what I do to be efficient is I only support things that I can make time to do. But I try limiting those things somewhat to be efficient. I spend time providing publication opportunities. Oftentimes I get invitations to do many things. So I can say, “I’ll be delighted,” but I would need so and so, for example, coauthor with me, otherwise I do not have time to do it. In our field, those are important for people to get into the habit of doing – publications and grant writing. I realize it's incredibly important that more junior people get on publications. I'm not very good at saying, no, especially to mentees, but I do try to limit the number of things I take on, but mentorship is one of my biggest priorities.
 

You clearly have reached the peak of your profession as an academic scientist, yet you remain resolute in your support and mentorship of trainees and faculty. What is your inspiration?

Well, I think in part I was well mentored. My other inspiration is that I find nurses especially to be amazingly wonderful people. I also find that people who do research in my area – behavioral health interventions, especially for those working in violence and trauma, are wonderful. I really admire what these people are committed to do and I feel privileged to be a small part of their journey and what they are trying to accomplish. People are addressing the problems that we have as a country - as a world, because there's so much violence and trauma, unfortunately. So that's my inspiration - working with other people that want to do that. I really like people, you know, people are mostly fabulous!