Clinical governance Combining clinical and management supervision

CLINICAL SUPERVISION has been adopted as a professional function in many of the specialties of nursing, for example, mental health nursing ( Mahood et al 1998 ), palliative care nursing ( Jones 1997 ), and practice nursing ( Cooke et al 1997 ). However, while many definitions and descriptions of its structure and functions are offered in the literature, there appears to be little overall consensus. The relationships between management supervision and clinical supervision are rarely discussed, and when they are, the emphasis is on the importance of clinical supervision operating independently from management control ( UKCC 1996 ).