Abstract
Many experienced nursing clinicians make the transition into university as lecturers and build academic careers. However, there are real difficulties in adapting to an academic culture and universities generally provide limited support to assist with this transition. This paper describes a personal account of the use of outsider-witness practices, as used in narrative therapy, to structure a series of support meetings for a small group of lecturers in nursing. The process proved to be an engaging one that helped to establish and build a supportive ethos where teaching practice could be explored and considered in a non-judgmental way. There are many different ways to build a supportive culture in academic settings and the use of the outsider witness approach deserves serious consideration.
Highlights
The need to provide support for practising health professionals has been generally recognised and one of the most commonly employed approaches is clinical supervision (Milne, 2009)
Howard (2008) proposed that we move beyond the traditional use of clinical supervision as a way of promoting self-care and managing stress at work to instead embrace the process as one that may be employed to promote wellbeing
She advocated for the use of ideas from the positive psychology literature while highlighting the potential for a narrative approach
Summary
The need to provide support for practising health professionals has been generally recognised and one of the most commonly employed approaches is clinical supervision (Milne, 2009). Colleagues were drawn to the practice of outsider witnesses in narrative work (White, 2007) This approach appealed to the group as stories are very much part of the nursing culture perhaps because: “Stories remind us of what it means to be human in all our complexity, differences and diversity” The sessions helped participants to recognise the value of sharing concerns about teaching and university work and to aspire to collaborative, supportive and facilitative ways of working with colleagues This resulted in a more balanced, less critical approach to performance review, and allowed fears to be explored in an empowering manner without the fear of criticism. Participants felt that the approach mirrors and enhances the self-reflecting development work of clinicians and students It evokes an environment of high challenge and high support and instils confidence to take some considered risks in teaching practice. As with anything new or different there may be a temptation for it to be misrepresented as something that only a few can do making it an exclusive rather than an inclusive process
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