Introducing clinical supervision across Western Australian public mental health services

Abstract

Retention and recruitment of the mental health nursing workforce is a critical issue in Australia and more specifically in Western Australia (WA), partly due to the isolation of the state. It has been suggested that these workforce issues might be minimized through the introduction of clinical supervision within WA mental health services, where, historically, it has been misunderstood and viewed with caution by mental health nurses. This may have been partly due to a lack of understanding of clinical supervision, its models, and its many benefits, due to a paucity of information delivered into initial nurse education programs. The aim of this pilot project is to explore and evaluate the introduction of clinical supervision in WA public mental health services. A quantitative approach informed the study and included the use of an information gathering survey initially, which was followed with evaluation questionnaires. The findings show that education can increase the uptake of clinical supervision. Further, the findings illustrate the importance of linking clinicians from all professional groups via a clinical supervision web-based database.

Breaking down the stigma of mental health nursing: A qualitative study reflecting opinions from western australian nurses

“…Taylor and Harrison () articulate the need for a formal recognition of clinical supervision in mental health nursing. They put forward that staff should actively participate in their own professional development for reflection and growth.…”

“…This may be an indication that there is an additional need for mental health nurses to include their fellow nursing colleagues in their promotional activities and better assist them to recognize and advocate for this area of specialty nursing. Taylor and Harrison (2010)…”

A rationale for a clinical supervision database for mental health nursing in the UK

“…The need to devise a method of identifying potential clinical supervisors prompted the development of a CS database, a web‐based resource hosted by the Western Australia Office of Mental Health (Taylor & Harrison 2010). The information recorded includes clinical supervisors' availability, level of experience of supervision and CS interests.…”

Evaluation of an inter-professional training program for student clinical supervision in Australia

“…Values which promote quality supervision include honesty, integrity, respect, empathy, trust, openness, collaboration, appreciation of diversity, and high levels of self-awareness [ 3 , 4 , 6 , 29 , 30 ]. Since clinical supervision training facilitates the development of these attributes and has been found to promote improved client outcomes, supervisor competence, and supervisee job satisfaction [ 16 , 21 , 31 – 40 ], what does the literature say about the longer term implications for both student supervision training and broader workforce concerns?…”

“…The literature on the rural and regional health workforce suggests that these shortages can be partially addressed through clinical supervision for students and staff [ 7 , 47 – 50 ]. Clinical supervision has also been shown to improve recruitment and retention in mental health and aged and community care [ 31 , 42 , 45 , 51 – 55 ]. In private practice, clinical supervision has been found to promote staff wellbeing, job satisfaction, and competence – qualities identified as enhancing recruitment and retention [ 52 ].…”