Enablers of and barriers to high quality clinical supervision among occupational therapists across Queensland in Australia: findings from a qualitative study.

Priya Martin,Lucylynn Lizarondo,Saravana Kumar,Ans Vanerp

doi:10.1186/s12913-015-1085-8

Abstract

BackgroundHealth professionals practising in countries with dispersed populations such as Australia rely on clinical supervision for professional support. While there are directives and guidelines in place to govern clinical supervision, little is known about how it is actually conducted and what makes it effective. The purpose of this study was to explore the enablers of and barriers to high quality clinical supervision among occupational therapists across Queensland in Australia.MethodsThis qualitative study took place as part of a broader project. Individual, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with occupational therapy supervisees in Queensland. The interviews explored the enablers of and barriers to high quality clinical supervision in this group. They further explored some findings from the initial quantitative study.ResultsContent analysis of the interview data resulted in eight themes. These themes were broadly around the importance of the supervisory relationship, the impact of clinical supervision and the enablers of and barriers to high quality clinical supervision.DiscussionThis study identified a number of factors that were perceived to be associated with high quality clinical supervision. Supervisor-supervisee matching and fit, supervisory relationship and availability of supervisor for support in between clinical supervision sessions appeared to be associated with perceptions of higher quality of clinical supervision received. Some face-to-face contact augmented with telesupervision was found to improve perceptions of the quality of clinical supervision received via telephone. Lastly, dual roles where clinical supervision and line management were provided by the same person were not considered desirable by supervisees. A number of enablers of and barriers to high quality clinical supervision were also identified.ConclusionWith clinical supervision gaining increasing prominence as part of organisational and professional governance, this study provides important lessons for successful and sustainable clinical supervision in practice contexts.

Highlights

Health professionals practising in countries with dispersed populations such as Australia rely on clinical supervision for professional support
Further research is required especially in a range of allied health professions to investigate what factors make Clinical supervision (CS) effective. Health professionals such as occupational therapists practising in highly dispersed geographical locations such as in Queensland, Australia rely on CS for professional support and guidance
While policies and guidelines exist in organisations such as Queensland Health regarding minimum CS requirements, little was known about how CS was conducted and what factors impacted the quality of CS received by supervisees

Summary

Introduction

Health professionals practising in countries with dispersed populations such as Australia rely on clinical supervision for professional support. There are multiple challenges inherent in ensuring effective service delivery in highly dispersed populations such as those found in Queensland, Australia [1, 2]. CS is defined as “the formal provision, by approved supervisors, of relationship-based education and training that is work-focused and which manages, supports, develops and evaluates the work of colleague/s” [7]. This type of supervision involves reflective thinking, discussion regarding professional development issues, caseloads, clinical issues, and staff interpersonal issues [8]. This is sometimes referred to as “supportive supervision” where there is joint problem-solving and two-way communication [6]

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