Clinical supervision: beginning the supervisory relationship

Abstract

While much has been written on clinical supervision (CS) in the nursing literature, there appears to be minimal attention afforded to the supervisory relationship and in particular the early phases of this relationship. It is understood that the quality of the supervisory relationship has a significant contribution towards the efficacy of CS. In acknowledging the struggles in demonstrating the effectiveness of supervision it seems reasonable to turn attention towards the relationship between supervisor and supervisee. This article begins by providing an overview of the supervision literature concerned with the supervisory relationship. Following this, attention is focused on the commencement of this alliance by describing the processes and attributes needed to commence a supervisory relationship.A comprehensive template for establishing a supervision agreement is presented. However, it is suggested that this template does not have to be confined for use in this particular clinical context but may be applicable to a variety of nursing environments. It is proposed that such an agreement/contract facilitates healthy beginnings for the supervisory relationship and goes some way towards enhancing the trajectory of this alliance.