scholarly journals Developing and implementing ‘meta-supervision’ for mental health nursing staff supervisees: opportunities and challenges

Author(s):  
Niels Buus ◽  
Lisa Lynch ◽  
Henrik Gonge

AbstractThis paper reports from a study of an intervention aimed at strengthening mental health nursing staff supervision. We developed and tested a short-term group-based meta-supervision intervention as a supplement to usual supervision. The intervention drew on action learning principles to activate and inspire supervisees to develop strategies for influencing their own supervision practices. The core ‘meta-supervisory’ process was organized round participants’ reflections on the possible benefits of supervision, their perceived barriers to realizing the benefits, and the articulation of concrete actions to overcome the barriers. In this paper, we introduce previously reported findings from the study and present two novel supplementary analyses of data from the meta-supervision process. First, we analyse a transcript of an audio recording made during the intervention, which illustrates how supervisees generate empowering psychosocial resources through the group processes. Second, we analyse supervisees’ paraphrased accounts of barriers to effective supervision and their accounts of personal projects to overcome the barriers. Barriers ‘outside’ the supervision setting primarily inspired projects aimed at creating structural change, whereas barriers ‘inside’ the supervision setting inspired projects aimed at creating individual change. The meta-supervision intervention was effective in increasing participation in supervision, but it shared the same problems of resistance and reluctance as often observed in supervision in general. In the discussion, we compare our ‘bottom-up’ approach to activating supervisees and implementing supervision practices with ‘top-down’ approaches. The meta-supervision intervention illustrated the importance of engaging supervisees in their own supervision and suggested how it can have both individual and organizational benefits.

Author(s):  
Celeste Foster

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate professional quality of life of mental health nursing staff working within an adolescent psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) setting. Professional quality of life is important, as there is a correlation between staff wellbeing and the quality of healthcare services delivered, particularly within mental health settings. Mental health nursing staff in adolescent PICU services deal with a wide range of physically and emotionally demanding challenges when providing care, yet the potential impact of this demanding work upon staff in this context has not been explored. Design/methodology/approach The study used a longitudinal non-experimental design with a purposive sample. Quantitative data were collected from a total of 17 registered mental health nurses and healthcare assistants (HCAs) working in an adolescent PICU in the North of England. Repeated measures were administered at three consecutive intervals, three months apart, using a validated self-report measure, the Professional Quality of Life Scale V (ProQOL V, Stamm, 2010). Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical analysis using benchmark data from the ProQOL V instrument for comparison. Findings Analysis of results compared to ProQOL V benchmark data showed significantly higher than expected levels of compassion satisfaction, and lower than expected levels of burnout and secondary traumatic stress for adolescent PICU nursing staff within the study. There were no significant differences between qualified nurses and HCAs. Potential explanations and practice implications of these findings are discussed. Originality/value This is the first published study to investigate professional quality of life within the mental health nursing population working in adolescent PICU, providing empirical insights into a previously unexplored mental health context.


2005 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 529-538 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny Bee ◽  
David Richards ◽  
Samantha Loftus ◽  
John Baker ◽  
Lorna Bailey ◽  
...  

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ankush Singhal ◽  
Alok Kumar ◽  
Ravindra B. Belgamwar ◽  
Richard E. Hodgson

Aims and MethodsTo determine the point prevalence of mental incapacity and the ‘Bournewood gap’ in general adult and old age mental health in-patients. The correlation of mental capacity assessment between doctors and nurses was investigated. Data were gathered on one census day for all general adult and old age psychiatric in-patients at three hospital sites.ResultsHalf the sample lacked capacity and one third fell into the ‘Bournewood gap’. The capacity assessment by nurses and doctors correlated highly (κ=0.719, P=0.0001).Clinical Implications‘Bournewood gap’ patients should have their needs assessed in order to identify and protect their rights. Appropriately trained mental health nursing staff can undertake this assessment.


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