Interdisciplinary Supervision Research Articles

The benefits and challenges of a rural community-based work-ready placement program for allied health students.

Rural and remote Australia has a shortage of allied health clinicians. The provision of quality rural placement experiences for allied health students has been a significant strategy to address these health workforce shortages. Service learning rural placements are providing allied health services in small rural towns where previously allied health services were limited or did not exist. Published literature has little detailed description of the origin or nature of particular placement programs. An increase in Commonwealth funding for rural allied health clinical placements led to the development of an innovative service learning placement model in northern New South Wales, the Rural Community-Based Work-Ready Placement Program. During this placement, students were paired for 4-10 full-time weeks in a preschool, school or aged care facility. The program's fundamental properties included cultural and social equity education, providing continuous service throughout the year, and quality improvement initiatives in placement sites. The program was underpinned by an interdisciplinary approach that included interdisciplinary placements, interdisciplinary supervision and a structured interdisciplinary education program. The program required investment in stakeholder engagement and in the alignment of universities' requirements for student learning outcomes and the sites' specific needs. Clinical supervisors had to adapt to supervising students from various disciplines and universities across several sites, towns and services. The program provided students with opportunities to work autonomously, problem-solve and to initiate and implement quality improvement projects at each site. Careful selection of students, adequate preparation and management of students' expectations were important contributors to the success of the program. Providing a continuous service is an ongoing logistical challenge.

Illuminating Clinical Supervision—Past, Present and Future: An Interview with Dr. Lawrence Shulman

In an interview with Dr. Lawrence Shulman, he presents his insights on clinical supervision from a social work and interdisciplinary perspective. Dr. Shulman is a luminary in social work and interdisciplinary supervision, developing the Interactional Model of Supervision. In reflecting on his career in social work research, education, and practice, he shares his thoughts regarding the importance of process-oriented supervision as a needed focus for research and practice. Supportive of integrating art and science in social work practice, he offers his perspectives on the current state of supervision in the evidence-based era.

Students’ learning outcomes from cross-collaborative supervision in information seeking processes during work placements

This article presents student experiences and learning outcomes in information literacy (IL) and evidence-based practice (EBP) following interdisciplinary supervision of their assignments by nurse educators, nurse supervisors and librarians in real clinical settings.The article is based on qualitative and quantitative text analysis of 102 individual student logs, qualitative text analysis of 36 student group assignments, feedback from an evaluation form and 285 blog and wiki comments from students, nurse educators, nurse supervisors and librarians. It is analysed according to the first five steps of the EBP model of and feedback from an evaluation form.The students’ learning outcomes in information literacy improved by using the EBP model. By the end of the project period, 83 % of the students had integrated a focus on research-based knowledge into their work placement assignment. The interdisciplinary joint supervision and a related blog and wiki communication forum had significant influence on this outcome space. The preparation programme for the students on campus, before work practice placements was developed collaboratively between the nursing education programme and the Learning Centre and library.There is very little existing research on the effect of cross-collaborative supervision in IL where both physical and digital tools have been used in work placements. This challenges established routines and ways of conducting supervision in IL in both the library and nursing education, because of the need to collaborate more tightly than before.

Prioritizing questions and methods for an international and interdisciplinary supervision research agenda: Suggestions by eight scholars

Eight active supervision scholars provide their perspectives on priorities for advancing research in clinical supervision. Based on proposals they presented at an invited symposium held during the 11th International Interdisciplinary Conference on Clinical Supervision, the authors propose research questions around multicultural identities, supervisor expertise, supervision models, and research methods. Although neither a comprehensive nor exhaustive list of priorities, the authors hope the article encourages dialogue across disciplines and countries that expand understanding of clinical supervision practice and supervisor education.

Co-teaching in information literacy during work placements: the librarian’s role

Introduction: This article presents findings from a development project designed to improve Information Literacy (IL) education by linking it to nursing students’ application of evidence-based practice during work placements. The Learning Centre at Oslo University College in Norway aimed to find out, what interactions and conditions influenced the librarian’s role in the context of interdisciplinary supervision of nursing students’ assignments and the development of a common supervision culture. Research Design: The librarian involved in the initiative had a dual role as both researcher and practitioner. Besides direct experiences from being a participant in the project, the empirical material consists of observation notes, meeting notes, presentations, guideline in IL, e-mails, an interview, 285 comments from students, nurse educators, nurse supervisors and librarians, through blog and the Wiki Learning Management System (LMS). The evidence on which this article is based involved analysis of both oral and written communication, framed in practice-oriented approaches. Findings: The conditions influencing the changing position of the librarian from an ‘outsider’ to becoming a member of the community of practice with common structures for the collaboration and supervision included meetings, a blog and a Wiki. Multidisciplinary, complementary skills in the supervision teams provided improved quality of supervision and led to a new joint supervision community. Conclusion: Together with the nurse educators and the nurse supervisors, the librarian was able to be a partner and a catalyst of IL workplace learning. The LMS was a decisive tool in the process. However, to be successful, this changed role for the librarian may require further pedagogical training and expertise in the development of interdisciplinary educational supervision.

Supervision of professionals: Interdependency between embodied experiences and professional knowledge

Social work counsellors, exposed to hardships of clients’ lives, might, over time, experience strain as bodily reactions of muscle tension and pain. Within the framework of improving professional practice, the aim was to explore meanings attached to moving and breathing by studying the influence of supervision, encompassing experiences and reflections on bodily exercises, and reflection on challenging professional experiences. Action research of interdisciplinary supervision for seven counsellors, based on observations, field notes, reflection notes, and a focus group interview, was carried out. Data were analysed across participants within sessions and over time to compare meaning variations. The counsellors’ change of experiences were identified as phases: What is in it for me, not knowing what to perceive, attention as basis for knowing how to move, experiencing and creating connections, and knowing oneself better. Adjusted to change of experiences, supervisors encouraged counsellors to give attention to, become aware of, and relieve and explore muscle tension and breathing restrictions to contexts of meaning. Supervision based on movement opened access to personal learning. Supervision as approaches of movements and reflections contributed to increased self-knowledge in professional social work practices. Based on ability to perceive and relieve muscle tension and flow of breathing, the approach might be a potential for professionals to handle challenging situations. The findings, related to the lived body, encompass appearances of new meanings and new uses to experiences of muscular tension and flow of breathing.

Novice supervisors' tasks and training – A descriptive study

The debut as a clinical supervisor is still rather unknown. The aim of this study is to explore what kind of tasks novice supervisors undertake and how they are prepared for these. During 2009–2010, 350 Danish clinical psychologists have responded to the Development of Psychotherapists Common Core Questionnaire covering a wide range of items on professional development, experience and practice. In this paper, we focus on background data (experience, training and practice), specifically the tasks and training of the respondents as novice supervisors. The results show that a majority of novice supervisors were confronted with complicated tasks, e.g. group, internal and interdisciplinary supervision, but were not prepared, i.e. trained, prior to these tasks. These findings imply that more training is needed for novice supervisors. Preferably, this training should be introduced before, or at least parallel to, the first supervisor tasks, preparing the novice supervisors for the often complicated tasks they are meeting.

High Prevalence of Primary Ovarian Insufficiency in Girls and Young Women with Nijmegen Breakage Syndrome: Evidence from a Longitudinal Study

Nijmegen breakage syndrome (NBS) is a severe chromosomal instability disorder characterized by microcephaly, growth retardation, immune deficiency, and predisposition for malignancy. It is caused by hypomorphic mutations in the NBN gene, which product belongs to the protein complex critical for processing DNA double-strand breaks during mitotic and meiotic recombination. Data on gonadal function in patients with NBS are limited. Growth and sexual development, along with hormonal assays, were evaluated in girls and young women with NBS homozygous for c.657_661del5 mutation. The group comprised 37 girls and young women with NBS (ages, 0.17-24.25 yr), followed between 1993 and 2008. Patients were divided into three age groups: 1) 1-3 yr; 2) 4-9 yr; and 3) 10 yr and older. Growth, puberty, concentrations of gonadotropins and 17-beta-estradiol, bone age, and pelvic ultrasound were assessed. None of the patients presented a typical growth spurt; the adult height ranged between the 3rd and 25th centiles. Median bone age was delayed by 4.05 yr. Pubarche reached stadium P2 in eight patients and P3 in two patients. In all but one girl, thelarche did not exceed Th2, with low 17beta-estradiol levels. Gonadotropin levels showed a biphasic pattern, with median FSH values of 55.0, 10.9, and 81.9 IU/liter, and LH of 3.2, 0.8, and 21.0 IU/liter in consecutive age groups. Ultrasound visualized small ovaries or solid streaks and the hypoplastic uterus. Primary ovarian insufficiency and the associated hypergonadotropic hypogonadism are hallmark manifestations in girls and young women with NBS. Our findings emphasize the need for long-term endocrinological and interdisciplinary supervision of these patients.

Labordiagnostik und Therapie der Porphyrien

The porphyrias are a heterogeneous group of predominantly hereditary metabolic diseases resulting from a dysfunction of heme biosynthesis. Most of the porphyrias can manifest with a broad range of cutaneous symptoms on the sun-exposed areas of the body, whereas other variants reveal life-threatening acute neurological attacks. Further, mixed types of porphyrias exist. Besides the skin, other organs can be affected, such as the liver and the central nervous system. Therefore, interdisciplinary supervision of these patients is mandatory. In this review we will first present the clinical picture and diagnosis of the porphyrias, including the specific biochemical laboratory tests and a diagnostic algorithm. Thereafter, the current therapeutic concepts will be briefly addressed. Finally, we introduce the European Porphyria Initiative (EPI), an association of various European porphyria centers that is aiming at gathering the broad experience of internationally renowned porphyria experts for the development of European consensus guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of these metabolic disorders.

Interprofessional supervision from the perspectives of both mental health nurses and other professionals in the field of cognitive behavioural psychotherapy

This study reports on an open-ended qualitative survey to describe interprofessional supervision within a sample of 170 randomly recruited accredited cognitive behavioural psychotherapists, the majority of whom are mental health nurses. Interdisciplinary supervision was found to be very common and creating some rich opportunities for learning and practice development. A number of interprofessional difficulties were also found to be occurring for a variety of reasons, which are described. Recommendations are made as to how these problems can be overcome.

Inherited metabolic disorders with cutaneous manifestations

Over the last years, the genetic basis of several monogenic inherited metabolic diseases has been elucidated. Interestingly, some of these disorders manifest with characteristic cutaneous symptoms that are often crucial for diagnosis. In most cases, however, besides the skin other organs are affected. Therefore, an interdisciplinary supervision of these patients is highly important. In this review we will discuss diseases that constitute a challenge not only for dermatologists but also for physicians from other specialties. A particular emphasis is put on genetic and clinical features of these disorders as well as current therapeutic concepts.

Using an Educational Clinic in Teacher Training

This paper discusses an attempt to make a college educational clinic more effective in its use for teacher training. It focuses on integrating clinically oriented teacher training programs e.g., guidance counselor, corrective reading teachers, special education personnel — by forming interdisciplinary teams. These teams are given intensive field experience in the community under interdisciplinary supervision. Each specialist is given basic training in the techniques used by the other team members.