Ask for clinical supervision

As a third year nursing student, Julie Sharrock attended a conference in Ballarat where one of the presenters talked about a counselling service for nurses at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. That talk inspired her lifelong commitment to nurse and midwife self-care. 

Today Julie is an esteemed Mental Health Nurse Consultant, Clinical Supervisor and Educator, who advocates for clinical supervision and professional support for nurses and midwives. 

Julie shares some of her insights into what workplaces, managers and nurses and midwives can do to encourage a culture of self-care, support, and clinical supervision to avoid burnout and retain a healthy workforce. 

Talk about your challenges (in a safe place)

Clinical supervision, as I provide it, is when one or more nurses or midwives meet with a clinical supervisor in a safe, confidential space. We have a conversation about their work and the ethical or moral challenges they might face.

Review past patient care 

It also involves talking about clients or patients and reflecting on the different ways of approaching work and what that might mean. This approach is retrospective and safe. It is a confidential conversation between a nurse or midwife and clinical supervisor. It is not part of performance review, and is separate from operational reporting. 

The only time any information might go outside the relationship is if there is a concern about safety, professional conduct, or mandatory reporting. The first step is for the clinical supervisor and the nurse or midwife to discuss finding a way forward. If they cannot agree on how to proceed, the supervisor may need to escalate it.

Reflect on practice – the good and the bad

Clinical supervision should reflect on practice, and the associated challenges. I think nurses and midwives do this informally when they talk to each other and bounce ideas off trusted colleagues who have some understanding of what they might be going through.

With a clinical supervisor the conversation is about the nurse or midwife – the focus is on them and their work, and the relationship is clear and defined.

Ask a trusted peer what they would do

If a difficult situation comes up at work, I recommend approaching someone for help so you don’t feel like you are on your own. Talk to a colleague or mentor who can work through a situation with you. Think about your role models, someone who could handle the situation, and how they would approach it.

Support one another (even if its personal)

If the difficulty is personal rather than professional, you might also reach out to a colleague for support. Nurses often find comfort in talking to other nurses. When I worked as a mental health nurse consultant in a general hospital, colleagues would regularly approach me and say, “Can I run something by you?”- often about personal matters. Back then, if the Nurse Midwife Health Program Australia had existed, it could have provided the dedicated support they needed.

Request supervision, reflection and education at your workplace

We need more clinical supervisors available and prepared to offer clinical supervision to nurses and midwives. We can also focus on creating a reflective culture in our workplaces, so we talk to their teammates about our work and reflect on our practice. In-service education can also help and reaching out to expert ethical teams in the hospital.

If you want to find out more on clinical supervision or where to find a clinical supervisor check out the Australian Clinical Supervision Association.