Nursing students’ perception of group supervision during clinical training

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate nursing students' perception of and satisfaction with clinical group supervision based on a special model, used in nursing training. Long-standing efforts have been made to create supervision models in nursing training that promote personal and professional development and prepare nursing students to cope with the complex and demanding situations they will face as registered nurses. Data were collected from nursing students (n = 43) during their clinical training by means of two questionnaires. Most questions were concerned with the importance of factors involved in the contract and the students' experiences of how these factors were covered during the clinical group supervision. The findings showed that, before starting the supervision programme, most all the students expressed positive attitudes towards group supervision, but 25% had negative expectations as well. At the end of the programme all students thought that group supervision had been an important support to them during their training and almost everyone wanted to participate in group supervision in the future as registered nurses. The findings showed that both the structure and the climate were important for the success of the group supervision. The findings will strengthen the model and confirm its usefulness in clinical training for nursing students. Using this supervision model, which includes reflection about feelings, thoughts and actions, the students will be well prepared for demanded situations in their future role as a registered nurse. A replication of this study addressed to trained nurses would be valuable.