Clinical supervision of general nurses in a busy medical ward of a teaching hospital

Abstract

Aim: To implement and evaluate group clinical supervision (CS) for Associate Nurse Unit Managers (ANUMs) in a busy medical ward of a tertiary teaching hospital. Background: Nursing work at managerial level is characterised by high stress, depersonalisation and burnout often leading to job dissatisfaction. CS was introduced as a strategy to reduce such issues, through reflection and sharing experiences. Method: Six ANUMs from an acute medical ward participated in weekly CS. The program was evaluated by a focus group conducted after six months to gather feedback about the ANUMs’ experience of participating in CS. Results: CS was viewed positively and five main themes emerged including Dedicated Time, I’m Not The Only One experiencing problems, Getting With The Program and having consistent approaches, Positive And Constructive Feedback, and That Word ‘supervision’. Conclusions: CS provides senior nurses an opportunity to debrief, reflect and share common experiences and develop alternate approaches to problems. CS may offer managers a useful tool for retaining experienced senior nurses.

Keywords:

• nursing
• clinical supervision
• management
• reflective practice
• burnout
• stress