Clinical supervision in promoting a balanced delivery of palliative nursing care.

In the United Kingdom, clinical supervision is considered a potent format for helping nurses to examine issues related to their professional practice and can be conducted either individually or in small groups. This paper considers ways that clinical supervision might help palliative care nurses to moderate the day-to-day stresses of working with the seriously ill, the dying and bereaved. Some concerns are explored in context and are illustrated with nurses’ accounts of aspects of their work. Ideas are discussed concerning the roles that supervision might play in helping a safe, effective and balanced delivery of care to patients and promoting psychological health and well-being in palliative care nurses. The paper concludes with the idea that clinical supervision might offer palliative care nurses experiences that bring about positive and lasting change. By learning from their experiences in a caring environent, palliative care nurses could sustain themselves during difficulties and teach others likewise.