‘What is it we are trying to achieve here’? Community maternal and child health nurses and clinical supervision: A qualitative descriptive study

AIMS: To explore clinical supervision practice by Victorian Maternal and Child Health nurses, identify the self-reported supervision needs of nurses and the facilitators and barriers to meeting those needs. BACKGROUND: Community-based Maternal and Child Health nurses have responsibilities for the safety and wellbeing of children and specific clinical support needs. Clinical supervision has the potential to support nurses' clinical practice and reflective skills; however, little is known internationally about child and family health nurses' supervision practices. DESIGN: Qualitative descriptive study. METHODS: Twenty-three semi-structured interviews were conducted between October and December 2021 with nurses, managers and supervisors across metropolitan, regional/rural areas of Victoria, Australia. Inductive thematic analysis was applied to the data. The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research guided this study. RESULTS: Three main themes, with subthemes were generated; 'Understand what we do', 'It's the gathering of the nurses' and 'Bringing a case'. A lack of agreed purpose, aims and varied understandings of clinical supervision contributed to suboptimal clinical supervision. Although participants agreed about the importance of clinical supervision, the perceived benefits were inconsistently realized. CONCLUSIONS: This study points to a need for greater organizational awareness of the conditions and leadership needed to build reflective skills and culture in community-based child and family nursing. REPORTING METHOD: The Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research has guided this study. NO PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: There was no patient or public contribution in the conduct of this study. IMPACT: A stronger focus is needed to build reflective culture and skill in child and family nursing. Areas for improving child and family nurses' use of clinical supervision have been identified. This study can inform nurse education, policy and service leaders, to strengthen clinical supervision in child and family nursing contexts.