The organization of clinical supervision within the nursing profession: a review of the literature.

There is a considerable amount of literature available on the subject of supervision within the nursing profession. However, there appears to be little structure regarding how this subject is organized within the professional literature. Thus, although the subject of supervision appears within the nursing literature as a fairly consistent theme, there has been little or no attempt by the profession to give structure to either its underpinning theory or its practice. It is apparent that the term 'supervision' within the nursing profession has different meanings for different individuals and groups. In an attempt to explore the literature relating to the United Kingdom, the author has developed a structure for the review, based upon his reading of the literature and his own experience within the profession. The review covers five areas. The first area is that of examining the need for clinical supervision within the practice of nursing. The second area of the review identifies the various ways in which the concept of supervision is used in practice, particularly identifying the variety of terminology. The third area of the review is that of the profession's perception of good practice regarding supervision. The fourth area of the review seeks to identify various models of supervision as they are used within the nursing profession. Lastly, the preparation and training for the role of supervisor is reviewed.