Psychiatric Hospital Nursing Staff's Experiences of Participating in Group-Based Clinical Supervision: An Interview Study

Abstract

Group-based clinical supervision is commonly offered as a stress-reducing intervention in psychiatric settings, but nurses often feel ambivalent about participating. This study aimed at exploring psychiatric nurses' experiences of participating in group-based supervision and identifying psychosocial reasons for their ambivalence. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 psychiatric nurses at a Danish university hospital. The results indicated that participation in clinical supervision was difficult for the nurses because of an uncomfortable exposure to the professional community. The sense of exposure was caused by the particular interactional organisation during the sessions, which brought to light pre-existing but covert conflicts among the nurses.

A comparison of risk and protective factors related to suicide ideation among residents and specialists in academic medicine

“…Personal vulnerability and a feeling that the need for supervision and support could indicate incompetence have previously been reported as factors hindering the implementation of successful group-based supervision among psychiatric nurses [43]. In consonance with this are findings showing that group-based clinical supervision is experienced as difficult because of uncomfortable exposure to one’s peers and superiors [44]. Perhaps individual supportive talks would be a more beneficial alternative for residents, as the ones in most need of guidance and support might also be the ones who find it most difficult to discuss problems openly.…”

Model for investigating the benefits of clinical supervision in psychiatric nursing: A survey study

“…All sessions were conducted in groups, and most sessions lasted 90 min. Rich descriptions on how the nursing staff experienced the clinical supervision in their specific unit can be found in two qualitative analyses conducted as part of this research project (Buus et al . 2010a,b).…”

Developing a Manual for Strengthening Mental Health Nurses’ Clinical Supervision

“…In part 3, the moderator introduced a 2 × 2 conceptual grid, which contained two types of individual barriers, structural and psychological, and two types of organisational barriers, structural and psychological. These four areas included frequently reported barriers to supervision (Buus, Angel, Traynor, & Gonge, 2010Cleary, Horsfall, & Happell, 2010). Participants exchanged ideas about the barriers they had encountered, and the moderator explored and summarised these responses on a flip-chart.…”