First-line managers' views of the long-term effects of clinical supervision: how does clinical supervision support and develop leadership in health care?

Abstract

There have recently been several organizational changes that have challenged nursing managers in the Finnish health care system. First-line managers need support in their work because of organizational changes and scarce economic resources. One of these supportive measures is clinical supervision. A group of first-line managers in a Finnish University hospital participated in a 2-year clinical supervision intervention in 1999-2000. The managers' perceptions of the clinical supervision were followed up twice during the intervention and 1 year after (2001). The aim of this study is to describe how the first-line managers saw the future effects of the clinical supervision intervention 1 year after its termination. At the beginning of the intervention, the number of participating nursing managers was 32. The number of respondents in this study 1 year (2001) after the clinical supervision was 11. Data was collected using empathy-based stories, which involved writing short essays. The respondents received orientation and a script to assist them in the writing of essays. The stories were analysed qualitatively by categorizing the responses by themes. The managers deemed that clinical supervision had, in the 3-year time frame, positive long-term effects on their leadership and communication skills, the desire for self-development, self-knowledge and coping. Managers believed that in the long run, clinical supervision would provide them with a broader perspective on work and would enhance the use of clinical supervision as a supportive measure among co-workers. First-line managers expect clinical supervision to have long-term positive effects on their work and coping. Empathy-based stories, as a method, were found suited to studies, which aim to obtaining future-oriented knowledge.

Nurses’ Knowledge and Attitudes towards Pain Management in Children Admitted in the Paediatric Department of Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi

“…As such, nurses may benefit from supportive supervision by those with experience so they appreciate that morphine could safely be administered to children. This is strongly supported for development of knowledge and skills and influencing positive practices in the clinical area [44] [45]. This may work to promote nurses' motivation to using morphine in children.…”

Nurse managers' visions of future challenges in health care organizations

“…The majority of the participants were working as front-line managers, and a few as mid-level nurse managers. Twenty minutes was reserved for the writing according to procedures adopted previously in earlier studies [17,18].…”

Organisational support for nurses in acute care settings: a rapid evidence review

“…[70] Horton-Deutsch and Sherwood [69] examine reflection as a learning strategy for the development of emotionally competent nurse leaders. They identify seven levels of reflection, based on the work of Mezirow, [71,72] and contend that emotional competence is a learned capability.…”

“…The use of clinical supervision as a means of supporting and developing the leadership capabilities of staff was investigated by Hyrkäs et al [70] In a two year study to investigate first line nursing managers' experiences of clinical supervision, data were collected in the form of empathy based stories which were subject to qualitative analysis to identify themes. From an original sample of 32, made up of 20 ward sisters and 12 nursing managers, the final sample after two years was 11 (7 ward sisters and 4 managers).…”