Clinical supervision and support for bridging programme students in the greater Durban area

P Pillay

doi:10.4102/curationis.v31i4.1059

Abstract

Reviewed literature revealed that clinical supervision is a conceptually sound learning model, which, unfortunately, is flawed by problems of implementation. Some of the more glaring problems include limited emphasis upon problem-solving, lack of clear expectations for student performance, inadequate feedback to students, inappropriate role models in clinical settings and inadequately prepared clinical teachers. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the nature of clinical supervision and support provided to bridging programme students in the clinical settings. Participants were drawn from three nursing colleges and 122 participants returned questionnaires. College 1:26, 2% (n = 32), College 2:15, 6% (n = 19) and the majority, 58, 2% (n = 71) were from College 3. The participants were second year students in the Bridging Programme. Purposive sampling was used for the selection of the hospitals. The researcher purposively selected those hospitals offering the Bridging Programme. The students were randomly sampled. According to Burns and Grove (2001), simple random sampling is the most basic and most effective of the probably sampling methods. Data was collected by means of a questionnaire and a critical incident report. The questionnaire used in this study was adapted from the Manchester Clinical Supervision Instrument. The findings revealed that clinical supervision contributes positively to the academic, professional and personal development of students. Although there was support for clinical supervision by the nursing staff, time for clinical supervision was the main problem. Clinical supervision was viewed as time consuming. Clinical learning emerged as secondary to ward routine. The students functioned as part of the workforce and missed out on some important learning opportunities. Results also showed that some clinical supervisors were not adequately prepared for their roles and responsibilities; as a result there was no significant relationship between clinical supervision sessions and the acquisition of knowledge. The critical incidence revealed positive and negative experiences regarding clinical supervision and the support provided by clinical supervisors and clinical staff. There is a need for clear policies regarding clinical supervision, a structured and well monitored process of clinical supervision, building the capacity of clinical supervisors, and addressing the issues of use of bridging programme students as part of the workforce.

Highlights

Introduction and BackgroundThe concept of clinical supervision can be traced as far back as the time of Florence Nightingale, where experienced nurses provided guidance to less experienced nurses in their clinical work (Winstanley & White, 2003:3)
The results are presented according to the major concepts in the conceptual not understand some of the young student’s behaviour, and be offended, or might feel as if she/he was in a parental role and the student might feel childlike, and a parent-child relationship might be observed
According to the framework in this there was no formal contract between them and the supervisor they indicated that the first session with the supervisor was used to detail the goals of clinical supervision, the roles and expectations from both parties

Summary

Introduction

Introduction and BackgroundThe concept of clinical supervision can be traced as far back as the time of Florence Nightingale, where experienced nurses provided guidance to less experienced nurses in their clinical work (Winstanley & White, 2003:3). According to Benoliel (1988:340), students need (a) a sense of being cared for during the process of learning to care for others, (b) they need to feel that they are receiving support and guidance whilst dealing with clinical experiences in which they perceive themselves to be failures or incompetent at. Some o f these themes emerged in the study by Smith (2000:5), which em phasised the need for psychosocial support over and above academic support. Does it provide opportunities for students to apply the theory learned in the classroom to the real world o f clinical nursing, it is a socialization process through which students are inducted into the practices, expectations and real-life work environment of the nursing profession.. Proctor (2001) regards clinical supervision as having three aspects: normative, formative and restorative

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