Clinical Supervision Handbook - CAMH Knowledge Exchange ..

Clinical Supervision Handbook
support system to one another” (p. 8). She further identifies the following aspects of
supervision that have achieved agreement by nurse educators:
• It is a formal growth-focused relationship.
• It provides an opportunity for the supervisor to review the professional
development of a new practitioner.
• It provides a forum for discussing the practice of care.
• It allows colleagues to learn from and encourage each other.
• It reduces professional isolation, emotional strain and stress.
• It may lead to the development of practice theory. (Jones, 2005)
She adds that clinical supervision in the United States is also known in clinical
settings as “the relationship between the nursing staff and an administrative clinical
staff member. This relationship is primarily supportive and evaluative in function
and does not meet the criteria for clinical supervision as defined in the UK” (p.149).
In summary, these definitions, though varied, describe a process in which the supervisee
and the supervisor discuss issues related to the supervisee’s practice, development
and, to some extent, performance.
Models
Sloan (1999) notes that there is no one model of supervision that can deal with the
diversity of clinical needs found in nursing. Differences in definition, models and
the practice of clinical supervision reflect cultural differences between countries,
organizations and nursing specialties. They also reflect differences between North
American and European conceptualizations of clinical supervision.
In North America, clinical supervision refers to relationships between an administrator
or a superior and a more junior supervisee with the supervisor having supervisory
responsibility for the performance of the supervisee (Cutcliffe & Lowe, 2005).
In Europe, clinical supervision emphasizes professional development and support
for the practitioner (Gilmore, 2001). It also focuses on supervisee-led issues that
range from patient care to interpersonal issues with peers (Cutcliffe & Lowe, 2005).
Similarly Jones (2005) refers to the U.K. model as a mandatory reflective practice
between the supervisee and the supervisor, while in the United States, the model
refers more to a relationship between an expert supervisor and a novice or new
108