Supervisor experiences of supervising nursing staff in the care of older people

Abstract

Support is of crucial importance for both the ability to supervise and the quality of supervision.

An Integrative Review of the Structures and Processes Related to Nurse Supervisory Performance in Long‐Term Care

“…"How the nurse perceived his or her own supervisory role, authority and commitment" was the most reported nurse structure (Cooper & Mitchell, 2006;Eriksson & Fagerberg, 2008;McGilton, Bowers, McKenzie-Green, Boscart, & Brown, 2009;Moyle, Skinner, Rowe, & Gork, 2003;Wicke, Coppin, & Payne, 2004). Nurses' perception of how much authority they held as a supervisor directly influenced how they coped with being a supervisor in an unpredictable environment (Eriksson & Fagerberg, 2008;McGilton et al, 2009;Venturato & Drew, 2010). Heavy workloads that included a multitude of tasks unrelated to supervision or direct care (e.g., replacing sick calls) hindered RNs' ability to provide effective supervision (McGilton et al, 2009;Siegel, Young, Mitchell, & Shannon, 2008).…”

“…In the quantitative study, increased nurse age and personal attributes (e.g., financial, job-related physical and emotional health change) were associated with the effectiveness of a nurse supervisor. Researchers qualitatively described that "nurse tenure" was directly related to the amount of confidence nurses exuded as nurse supervisors (Eriksson et al, 2008;Siegal et al, 2008). These findings were echoed by Noelker (2006) who conducted a survey and reported that the number of "months worked" positively influenced supervisory performance.…”

“…NAs expressed the importance of supervisors being sensitive, flexible, considerate, and understanding to the needs of the staff they lead while considering multiple perspectives (Burke et al, 2001;Cooper & Mitchell, 2006;Dellefield, 2008;Eriksson & Fagerberg, 2008;McGilton et al, 2009;Tyler & Parker, 2011). Good supervisors demonstrated humility (Eriksson & Fagerberg, 2008) and were friendly and easy to talk to (Erickson-Lidman et al, 2013;McGillis Hall et al, 2005).…”

“…Good supervisors demonstrated humility (Eriksson & Fagerberg, 2008) and were friendly and easy to talk to (Erickson-Lidman et al, 2013;McGillis Hall et al, 2005). They encouraged staff input by listening to the ideas of staff in all activities (Beck et al, 2012;Bishop et al, 2008;Cooper & Mitchell, 2006;Dellefield, 2008;Eriksson & Fagerberg, 2008;McGillis Hall et al, 2005) and were fair and consistent in dealing with staff (McGillis Hall et al, 2005).…”

“…It was important to NAs that supervisors provided both personal and professional support (Beck et al, 2012;Cooper & Mitchell, 2006;Dellefield, 2008;Eriksson & Fagerberg, 2008). Support was often operationalized by NAs as hands-on assistance during direct resident care (Burke et al, 2001;McGillis Hall et al, 2005;Rubin et al, 2009).…”