Supervisor and Supervisee Relationship in the Clinical Learning Environment

Abstract

Good clinical learning environments depend on the supervisory relationship created by both the supervisors and supervisees. The cooperation between the two parties can strengthen the role of supervision by supervisors as well as building a conducive clinical learning environment. In the case of nursing, professional nurses allocated in various clinical areas play a major in guiding and mentoring student nurses to become competent professional practitioners. This study aimed to explore the supervisors and supervisees' perceptions of supervisory relationships in the clinical areas. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed. A sample of 387 professional nurses and 80 student nurses from the seven training hospitals of Mopani and Vhembe districts of Limpopo Province was recruited for the study. Self-administered questionnaires and focus group interviews were used in data collection. Quantitative data were analysed by descriptive statistics using the Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS), version 22.0 and Tesch's method was used to analyse qualitative data. Quantitative results revealed that time spent and the frequency of supervision ranged from 15-30 minutes and thrice a week. On the other hand, the qualitative findings included inadequate support of supervisors, poor communication, lack of supervisory skills and the inability to maintain a collegial relationship, and ethnic marginalisation of students. The study concludes that student supervision depends on the adherence to ethical principles by both the supervisor and supervisee.