Describing and evaluating a foundational education/training program preparing nurses, midwives and other helping...

Clinical supervision is a strategy supporting nurses, midwives and other healthcare professionals in the provision of quality healthcare. Clinical supervision involves regular, protected time for reflection. Adequately prepared supervisors are essential, however there is limited knowledge about education/training programs and even less about those that are not discipline-specific. This paper 1) describes an eight-day foundational program, Clinical Supervision for Role Development Training as situated within the Spurr Supervisor Training Model and, 2) presents the results from routinely collected evaluation data. Simple descriptive analysis and latent content analysis were used to analyse data from 226 participants who filled out a self-administered questionnaire. Participants reported increased knowledge (87.5%), skills (87%) and confidence to apply the techniques learnt (85.5%); 95% found practice sessions to be useful, and expectations of the training had been met. Qualitative data supported the positive quantitative results. The program was positively assessed by participants, irrespective of professional discipline. The pragmatic nature of the training and the safe learning environment was considered important to the development of skills and confidence as a supervisor. A more robust evaluation process and prospective, longitudinal research is needed to better understand the expectations and learning experience of participants, and implementation in the healthcare environment.