In this essay I will discuss the key enabling characteristics required of a mentor (Morton-Cooper and Palmer, 2005). I will explore the different ways I used these enabling characteristics as a mentor to influence the success of mentoring my third-year student in an acute mental health unit. The essay will be supported with relevant educational theory. Finally, I will reflect and evaluate my performance as a mentor. Mentoring is an important role to play as a nurse, formally or informally in your professional life. This experience will help many nurses to recognize areas of development and further career options, such as lecturer, practitioner and manager. The English National Board and the Department of Health (2000) define tutoring as the role of the nurse, midwife or healthcare assistant who facilitates learning and supervises and assesses students in a practice setting. Because mentors spend the majority of their time with students in the clinical area, they are in the best position to judge students' abilities and to guide and assist them in developing and achieving their learning goals. The NMC (2006) states that Sign off Mentors have a final assessment of the practice to judge that all competencies have been met and that the student is considered capable of registering. Morton-Cooper and Palmer (2000) identified good mentors as those who have enabling skills traits. These include the following: Expertise: Mentors should have the appropriate knowledge of the subject area and a sense of organization. Some of the attributes of competence include the ability to demand respect from others and the ability to develop the student's strengths by providing constructive criticism and feedback. Other skills including... half of the document... professional role as a mentor. CONCLUSION You need to recognize that once you take on the role of mentor, you will need these enabling characteristics, so know which ones best suit the student's development. Being a mentor has given me the opportunity to develop learning skills in my clinical practice that will contribute to student learning and therefore my professional development as a nurse educator in the future. The lesson I have learned about being a good mentor is the ability to transfer my knowledge and enthusiasm to students and junior staff and guide them to success. My student developed a friendly relationship with me and gained a lot of respect for the help I provided. Finally, it is clear that as a mentor one should have a giving attitude and that the enabling characteristics of commitment, trust and competence are extremely important.