Resistance to group clinical supervision: A semistructured interview study of non‐participating mental health nursing staff members

Abstract

This present study is a report of an interview study exploring personal views on participating in group clinical supervision among mental health nursing staff members who do not participate in supervision. There is a paucity of empirical research on resistance to supervision, which has traditionally been theorized as a supervisee's maladaptive coping with anxiety in the supervision process. The aim of the present study was to examine resistance to group clinical supervision by interviewing nurses who did not participate in supervision. In 2015, we conducted semistructured interviews with 24 Danish mental health nursing staff members who had been observed not to participate in supervision in two periods of 3 months. Interviews were audio-recorded and subjected to discourse analysis. We constructed two discursive positions taken by the informants: (i) 'forced non-participation', where an informant was in favour of supervision, but presented practical reasons for not participating; and (ii) 'deliberate rejection', where an informant intentionally chose to not to participate in supervision. Furthermore, we described two typical themes drawn upon by informants in their positioning: 'difficulties related to participating in supervision' and 'limited need for and benefits from supervision'. The findings indicated that group clinical supervision extended a space for group discussion that generated or accentuated anxiety because of already-existing conflicts and a fundamental lack of trust between group members. Many informants perceived group clinical supervision as an unacceptable intrusion, which could indicate a need for developing more acceptable types of post-registration clinical education and reflective practice for this group.

Exploring employment as a space of respite and resistance for family caregivers

“…In particular, Hollander and Einwohner, and others (Johansson & Vinthagen, ; Baaz, Lilja, Schultz, & Vinthagen ), were germane in their assertion that resistance is defined not only by the resister's perception of her/his own behaviour, but also through the intersection of the perspectives of targets and others (including researchers) who recognise and react to this behaviour. While critics suggest that this typology may be incomplete as an analytical tool (Baaz, Lilja, Schultz, & Vinthagen ; Johansson & Vinthagen, ), others believe that the typology's strength lies in the assertion that analyses of resistance depend on perspective (Buus, Delgado, Traynor, & Gonge ).…”

Palliative care nurses' experiences of clinical supervision: a qualitative evidence synthesis

“…Stressful reactions to CS are also reported by mental health nurses due to work pressure that challenges in their ability to focus on the supervisory process (Buus et al, 2018). Moreover, the sharing of personal and intimate feelings and 'professional uncertainty' can feel very uncomfortable (Buus et al, 2018). Appropriate training and education for nurses prior to CS may help alleviate nurses' stressful experiences, and the importance of education for supervisees about the value of CS is evident in the findings of this synthesis.…”

“…Stressful reactions to CS are also reported by mental health nurses due to work pressure that challenges in their ability to focus on the supervisory process (Buus et al, 2018). Moreover, the sharing of personal and intimate feelings and 'professional uncertainty' can feel very uncomfortable (Buus et al, 2018).…”

Nurses and midwives' experiences with peer‐group clinical supervision intervention: A pilot study

“…Despite the protected time afforded to supervisees, our data indicated that 'finding time' was still a challenge. Having protected time is a crucial component of supervision (Hall, 2018); nevertheless, staff who have engaged in clinical supervision (Cook et al, 2020;Dawson et al, 2012;Martin et al, 2016Martin et al, , 2019 and peer-group clinical supervision (Buus et al, 2018) consistently report time to engage as challenging. Dawson et al (2012) reported that although those who engage in supervision are afforded protected time, the commitment to attend supervision increases work-related pressure.…”