Supportive Supervision: A Tool for Creating Healthy Work Environment for Nurses

Supportive supervision is a process that uses dialogue and constructive feedback to help staff, volunteers or entire organizations improve their performance in pursuit of the organization’s mission, while also setting goals for growth and development. It focuses on monitoring performance towards goals, and using data for decision-making, and depends upon regular follow-up with staff to ensure that new tasks are being implemented correctly. It can also be described as a relationship between senior and junior member of a profession that is evaluative, extends over time, serves to enhance the skills of the junior person, monitors the quality of the services offered by the junior person and acts as gate keeping to the profession. By employing supportive supervision, managers can not only create a healthy work environment, but can improve and sustain the performance and satisfaction of the people in their organization by preventing job-related stress. It provides opportunities to discuss—and sometimes even provide—the additional skills and training that will enhance staff’s ability to do their work. Identifying training needs is important, as is following up after trainings to ensure that staff members have opportunities to apply the skills in their work and to share with colleagues. Integrating supportive supervision throughout organization’s structure will result in a stronger organization, with more efficient and satisfied people working to achieve organization’s mission.