Nursing students’ experiences of the effects of continual process-oriented group supervision

AIM: To describe and analyse the nursing students' experiences of the effects of process-orientated group supervision. BACKGROUND: There is a need to promote the development of the nursing student's professional identity and preparedness to act as well as to provide the opportunity for reflection and setting up a group supervision programme. METHOD: This paper is an in-depth study using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. An open-ended interview form including 24 items and four open-ended questions was used and 80 nursing students answered a questionnaire. The data were analysed by a factor analysis with varimax rotation and by open coding. FINDINGS: The three analysis factors were labelled: 'Increased patient attentiveness', Increased empathy ability', and 'Increased insight and security'. From the findings of the qualitative analysis two main categories emerged: 'Increased ability to communicate' and 'Personal growth'. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this study suggest that there is an association between the effects of group supervision and the nursing students' development of a nurse identity.