Palliative care nurses' experiences of clinical supervision: a qualitative evidence synthesis

Abstract

Background: Clinical supervision provides support and facilitates professional and personal development. Aim: To identify and synthesise all available qualitative research on palliative care nurses' experiences of clinical supervision. Methods: Guided by the ‘enhancing transparency in reporting the synthesis of qualitative research’ (ENTREQ) statement, eight databases were searched using a systematic search strategy (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PubMed, PsycINFO, Medline, Web of Science, ProQuest, Embase, Psychological and Behavioural Sciences). The findings of all included studies were analysed guided by Thomas and Harden's approach. Confidence in the review findings was determined guided by Confidence in the Evidence from Reviews of Qualitative research (GRADE-CERQual). Findings: Nine qualitative studies were included in this synthesis and four analytic themes were identified: negative experiences and misunderstandings of clinical supervision; clinical supervision needs structure and clarity; supervisor needs to be a conductor and a producer; finding your ‘inner supervisor’. Conclusion: The review illuminates the benefits of clinical supervision as a renewal process for palliative care (PC) nurses, but also highlights the challenges in its provision. Organisations should provide designated time and opportunities for PC nurses to attend clinical supervision sessions during working hours.

Nurses' experiences of supporting patients requesting voluntary assisted dying: A qualitative meta‐synthesis

“…Although nurses in the present study did not raise professional supervision, receiving supervision may support nurses to develop reflexivity when navigating complex ethical and emotional areas of work such as palliative care (Francis & Bulman, 2019;Keane et al, 2020). The nurses' voices in our synthesis strongly articulated the complexity and emotional burden that they carried alongside learning and undertaking the unfamiliar and weighty practice of VAD.…”

Priorities for enhancing nurses' and social workers’ competence and confidence in helping families support dependent children through parental death. A classic-Delphi survey

“…Findings from this survey may indicate a lack of formalised supervision provided by organisations to help nurses and social workers manage their own and family members' emotions. Notably, clinical supervision is not a mandatory requirement for either professional group [ 62 , 63 ]. However, it is considered best practice for palliative care nurses [ 63 ] and social workers [ 64 ].…”

“…Notably, clinical supervision is not a mandatory requirement for either professional group [ 62 , 63 ]. However, it is considered best practice for palliative care nurses [ 63 ] and social workers [ 64 ]. In this survey, panellists did not agree on the ‘lack of prioritisation by the nursing workforce of the importance of building relationships with families to help them support bereaved children.’ Although our findings do not directly indicate why, we suggest that nurses may lack access to clinical supervision in this area.…”

A Phenomenological Analysis of Experiences and Practices of Nurses Providing Palliative and End of Life Care

“…Thus, nurses need to recognize and confront their own perceptions and attitudes toward care practices. Various studies have been made of palliative and end of life care in nursing, but there are only a few phenomenological qualitative research regarding the subject (Keane et al., 2020; Piredda et al., 2020).…”