LEARNING FROM PRACTICE - MENTAL-HEALTH NURSES PERCEPTIONS AND EXPERIENCES OF CLINICAL SUPERVISION

In recent years nursing as a whole has moved from a position of appare ntly little manifest concern in the issue of 'clinical supervision' to a veritable explosion of interest which is beginning to find expressi on in the literature. Beginning with a discussion of clinical supervis ion from within a psychodynamically informed interpersonal nursing fra mework this paper reports on a small scale qualitative inquiry which a imed to explore mental health nurses' perceptions and experiences of c linical supervision. Analysis of data derived from a series of semi-st ructured interviews provides very encouraging early indications that m ental health nurses are becoming better able to reflect upon the natur e of their own formative learning needs and so to take seriously their need for professional support as they strive towards a more therapeut ic relationship with their patients. However, whilst all of the partic ipants in the study had a positive perception of the potential value o f clinical supervision, there is clear evidence to suggest that their actual experience was that 'good enough supervision' was more the exce ption than the rule, The participants' perceptions and experiences are described and the implications for research, practice, education and the management of service delivery systems are outlined.