Supervision and control: A community psychiatric nursing perspective

Abstract

Community psychiatric nursing has long been seen as an integral part of community mental health care. However, recent changes to the way in which this care is organised and delivered has resulted in changing work patterns for all mental health workers. Of these changes the introduction of the supervision register and supervised discharge have perhaps been the most controversial. This study reports on in-depth interviews with community psychiatric nurses (CPNs) about how they perceive their work in the light of supervision and other changes. The findings suggest that CPNs are concerned about not only the adverse effects of supervision upon their clients and relationships with them but also about the controlling effect supervision has upon them. The consequences of these findings are discussed in relation to possible implications for multi-disciplinary practice and inter-professional shared learning.