The Development and Evaluation of a Model of Clinical Supervision for Community Nurses in Rural Australia

Abstract

Background and Context: There are particular challenges in providing clinical supervision for rural community nurses who largely practice in isolation from their colleagues and the health care team. While there are models for the clinical supervision of other health care workers there is a paucity of attention paid to the professional support needs of community nurses in rural Australia. Aim of the Study: The aim of this study is to investigate the specific clinical supervision needs of community nurses within a rural sector of an Australian health service and to develop and evaluate a clinical supervision model to meet these needs. Methodology: This project employs a qualitative action research method that utilises focus groups and telephone interviews conducted with 41 community nurses and 14 health service managers. Sampling involved inviting all 50 community nurses and 14 health service managers from the sector to participate. Area health service ethical guidelines were observed. Analysis: Thematic analysis of the data was undertaken to determine the particular clinical supervision needs of community nurses and the attitudes toward clinical supervision held by health service management. Summary of key findings: Initial findings show that community nurses have a limited knowledge of clinical supervision but that they hold an increasingly positive attitude toward it. They prefer an informal group approach that allows for some flexibility. There is strong support for clinical supervision among health service managers. Conclusions and implications: The findings of this study, which will be completed in September 2008, will describe the clinical supervision needs of rural community based nurses and report on the evaluation of a clinical supervision model developed to meet their specific needs. These findings will have implications for the implementation of clinical supervision among rural community based nurses. This project was funded by a grant from the New South Wales Institute of Rural Clinical Services and Teaching.