Why clinical supervision is essential for professional practice and today’s workforce

In our efforts for continuous improvement in healthcare, while developing a supportive and caring workforce, the importance of effective clinical supervision in professional practiced remains essential. As the largest provider of flexible workers to the NHS and a leading training provider too, our regular conversations with healthcare and training professionals throughout the sector prove that is an area that many want to see given more focus to.

As a nursing professional, I believe it is essential to continue to invest in and embed the clinical supervision process for all our workforce. From experience, we know the impact that good clinical supervision can have for all our nursing colleagues and for patient care. The marked increased interest in clinical supervision training (including train the trainer) to acute and mental health trusts, primary care networks and military services, is clear evidence of this – but supporting it effectively is just as important.

Rising demand in clinical supervision

Put simply, clinical supervision is: “the promotion of professional development to improve patient care through the provision of restorative support mechanisms.” (Proctor, 2008). With patient care at its core, this crucial area has seen rising demand and requests for our clinical supervision programmes through our NHSP Academy from a variety of areas throughout the healthcare sector. As a result, we have developed and delivered a successful Clinical Supervision Programme - but what is behind this increase in demand?

The feedback from across our healthcare workforce – registered, new-to-care healthcare support workers and internationally educated nurses –indicates that clinical supervision is providing an integral part to their practice and support, helping them to deliver optimal patient care through reflection and – crucially – leading to an enhanced sense of wellbeing.

Indeed, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, published last year, has identified that the importance of staff development is fundamental to the provision of high-quality care. As academics and industry highlight, the role of clinical supervision is well documented (Royal College of Nursing, 2022; NHS England, 2023) but the availability of clinical supervision in nursing varies between disciplines and services (Gill-Meeley et al, 2024). And this availability is something we should all want to increase.

Enabling the development of professional practice

As is well documented, one of the major challenges facing our health and social care workforce today is nursing shortages. As a nursing profession, we are challenged by the increased demand on our services, due to an ageing population, the emphasis of improving healthcare delivery (such as reducing hospital waiting times) and meeting service delivery requirements.

The priorities of the Long Term Workforce Plan, to train, retain and reform provides strategic direction and focus to support our current nursing workforce – and it is here that I believe clinical supervision has a role in keeping nurses in the profession.

Many point to the evidence that embedding clinical supervision in practice has proven a reduction of stress, anxiety and burnout in a range of nursing roles (Dickinson and Wright, 2008) – a clear solution to current workforce retention challenges. Clinical supervision also supports the development of confidence – resulting in professionals who are more able to cope with the demands on their workload (Taylor, 2014).

However, the benefit of clinical supervision extends beyond the professionals involved in the supervision and includes both patients and the wider organisation. From an organisational perspective, expert studies show that embedding clinical supervision in practice can create job satisfaction, a positive working environment and improve the retention of staff. Patients must remain at the centre of the care which is provided to them, and the influence of clinical supervision can increase the overall quality of their care (Rothwell et al, 2021).

So, with both in-life demand and numerous academia highlighting the need for effective clinical supervision, how can we support this?

Clinical supervision: striving for best practice

For us, there are some key elements that must be remembered if clinical supervision is to be effectively supported to succeed. The outcomes that we drive in our evidence-based training programme delivers the following features that practitioners and providers can use going forward. Some of these may seem obvious, but feedback from our customers show that they can be overlooked:

• Trust and transparency

Mutual trust and respect between the supervisor and supervisee are paramount in clinical supervision, ensuring supervisees feel supported (Gill-Meeley et al, 2024) in a safe environment. Supervisors are required to be culturally competent, and to be aware of the diverse backgrounds of their supervisees to create an inclusive and supportive environment for all (Rothwell et al, 2021).

• Responsibility and accountability

Knowledge and implementation of legal, regulatory and professional frameworks, with focus on accountability and responsibility is fundamental to efficient and effective delivery within organisations.

• Competence and confidence

Reflection forms a large part of clinical supervision and provides an opportunity for supervisees to reflect on their own practice, gaining competence and confidence. The restorative element of clinical supervision provides a much-needed platform for support in what can be a pressured work environment (Proctor, 2008).

Delivering our future workforce is ultimately dependent on sustainable and high-quality education and training. At NHSP Academy, our robust clinical supervision programmes have had a significant impact on multiprofessional teams and specialities. The effective implementation of clinical supervision in this way will ensure health professionals have the opportunity for lifelong learning, while maintaining high standards of patient care.

Juliette Cosgrove is chief nurse, NHS Professionals and managing director, NHS Professionals Academy; Heather Ashcroft is head of academic development, NHS Professionals Academy

References

Dickinson T, Wright KM (2008) Stress and burnout in forensic mental health nursing: a literature review. British Journal of Nursing; 17: 2, 82-87.

Gill-Meele N et al (2024) Nurses’ and midwives’ experiences of clinical supervision in practice: a scoping review protocol. BMJ Open, 14: e081619.

NHS England (2023) Supervision guidance for primary care network multidisciplinary teams. england.nhs.uk, 16 May (accessed 12 November 2024).

NHS England (2024) NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. NHSE.

Proctor B (2008) Group Supervision: A Guide to Creative Practice. Sage.

Rothwell C et al (2021) Enablers and barriers to effective clinical supervision in the workplace: a rapid evidence review. BMJ Open; 11:e052929.

Royal College of Nursing (2022) RCN Position on Clinical Supervision. rcn.org.uk (accessed 12 November 2024).

Taylor C (2014) Boundaries in advanced nursing practice: the benefits of group supervision. Mental Health Practice; 17: 10, 26-31.