Overview
Clinical Supervision is an effective professional support strategy for nurses and midwives contributing to professional development and health and wellbeing of the workforce. Midwives and nurses are encouraged to seek out and learn about Clinical Supervision. Clinical Supervision is increasingly recognised as a core component of professional support for contemporary nursing and midwifery practice. Maintaining the health and wellbeing of nurses and midwives is vital to encouraging recruitment, retainment, and growth of sustainable workforce. Clinical Supervision has been proven to positively impact employee’s health and professional development. Clinical Supervision is distinct from point-of-care supervision, a full definition can be found in this position statement.
This position statement was developed in collaboration with the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses and the Australian College of Midwives. We jointly advocate for clinical supervision for all nurses and midwives, regardless of their specific roles, practice areas, or years of experience.
Key recommendations
ACN advocates for:
- Clinical supervision is embedded in all nursing and midwifery undergraduate and vocational education as a component of professional practice.
- All nurses and midwives are fully orientated to clinical supervision upon entry to their relevant workforce and have access to clinical supervision that meets their individual needs.
- All clinical supervisors of individuals and groups undertake specific educational preparation for this role and engage in their own regular clinical supervision.
- The nursing and midwifery professional bodies advocate for a national standard for the educational preparation of clinical supervisors.
- All employers of nurses and midwives positively support and actively promote quality clinical supervision through organisational policies, procedures and workplace culture.
- Regular systematic evaluations of the quality and efficacy of clinical supervision arrangements are undertaken at the local service level, taking care not to compromise the integrity of confidentiality agreements between supervisors and supervisees.
- The nursing and midwifery professional bodies advocate for investment in robust clinical supervision programs throughout the health and aged care systems to support implementation and sustainability.
- The nursing and midwifery professional bodies advocate for investment in outcomes-related research to strengthen the clinical supervision evidence base and for continuous improvement.
- The nursing and midwifery professional bodies collaborate with industrial associations to incorporate clinical supervision within enterprise bargaining agreements.
- The nursing and midwifery professional bodies take an active role in interdisciplinary collaboration and advocacy for clinical supervision.
