BACKGROUND:
mentorship is a critical component in the professional nurses’ development, particularly for clinical development of postgraduate diploma student nurses. It serves as a bridge between academic learning and clinical practice, providing support, guidance, and professional growth opportunities. Despite its recognized importance, there is limited qualitative research exploring the lived experiences of postgraduate student nurses regarding mentorship.

OBJECTIVES:
to gain an in-depth understanding of how postgraduate diploma student nurses perceive mentorship in a public hospital setting and to explore the challenges and barriers experienced by postgraduate diploma student nurses in accessing or benefiting from mentorship.

METHODS:
an exploratory qualitative design was employed with focus groups unstructured in-depth interviews. Purposive sampling was used to selects participants. 5 groups were interviewed and reached data saturation. Thematic analysis was utilised to identify recurring themes and patterns in participants’ experiences.

RESULTS:
six themes emerged from the interviews including: perceptions of mentorship as a professional development tool, inconsistency and lack of structured mentorship, barriers to effective mentorship, quality of mentor-mentee relationship, perceived impact of mentorship on clinical competence and confidence, and recommendations for improving mentorship.

CONCLUSIONS:
mentorship significantly influences the learning experiences and professional growth of postgraduate diploma student nurses. Despite challenges, positive mentorship experiences contribute to improved clinical competence and motivation. Improving mentorship practices will not only benefit postgraduate student nurses but also contribute to higher quality nursing care and better patient outcomes in public healthcare settings in gauteng province. In addition, the higher education institution will have a picture of the clinical outcomes for the postgraduate programme.