Definition of Supervision

Whilst there is no agreed best or single definition of supervision, there are common purposes attributed to supervision. These include ensuring competent and safe practice, promoting wellbeing and professional practice and developing knowledge, skills and values (Daly and Muirhead 2015, Howard and Eddy-Imishue 2020). Existing evidence points to effective supervision being associated with job satisfaction, organisational commitment and retention of staff (SCIE 2017, Martin et al. 2021, Rothwell 2021). Supervision is described by the HCPC (2021) as

“ a process of professional learning and development that enables individuals to reflect on and develop their knowledge, skills and competence, through agreed and regular support with another health professional”

Rothwell et al (2019), in their rapid review of the evidence surrounding the characteristics of clinical and peer supervision in the workplace state:

“Reflecting on practice [It] provides staff with support in the complex, responsible and emotionally challenging work they undertake. It should be conducted in the context of a supportive learning environment that actively encourages the continuous development of good practice and skills. Regular, high quality, organised supervision is key to developing staff skills, knowledge and values”.

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC)(2016) describes supervision as

“Supervision includes an ongoing professional workforce relationship, between two or more staff members with different levels of knowledge or expertise, for the purposes of support and the sharing/enhancing of knowledge and skills to support professional development”.