Does clinical supervision lead to better patient outcomes in mental health nursing?

It is claimed that clinical supervision contributes to clinical governance of healthcare services, but many claims for its positive effects are unsubstantiated.

To test relationships between supervision, quality of nursing care and patient outcomes.

A randomised controlled trial was conducted across Queensland, Australia, supplemented by qualitative data collection.

Supervision had sustainable beneficial effects for supervisors and supervisees. The individual performance of clinical supervisors was affected by the culture of the organisation. A positive relationship between supervision, quality of care and patient outcomes could not be established statistically, except in one location.

Proposals are made for future supervision implementation and further research is required.