Why are we continually surprised at the lack of care demonstrated by those expected to care when the care given to them is so neglectful? Menzies-Lyth researched the impact on nurses of working in stressful environments and emphasised the importance of supporting staff to enable them to care (1). Supervision is a method of caring about those who do the caring. Managers need to help staff keep their humanity in delivering care to others. In order to do that staff need to feel their workloads are manageable and that they have emotional support available to them. At its most simple, staff need to feel cared about in order to care for others.
Busy workloads and highly anxiety provoking situations diminish those capacities in us all for caring about anyone else, we revert to “how am I going to survive?” rather than “how can I care for others?” as our way of operating. Supervision is a tool akin to the valve on a pressure cooker, which regulates the working temperature so that care still reaches those on the receiving end of services.
Lack of good quality supervision has been a regular feature when there have been concerns about Children’s Services (2). However it is now beginning to show in reports about lack of care on offer in adult care settings. It is an expectation of the Health and Social Care Act that supervision is offered to all staff but may be a new concept to registered owners and managers, who have not experienced good supervision for themselves and need to promote it within their settings.
Practice Matters is running an Effective Supervision Skills workshop on 5th December 2012 in Dorchester
Aims:
. To improve the supervision and management practice of Managers and other staff who may have
supervisory responsibility
. To explore what we mean by supervision and the expectations of those who are being supervised
including at different aspects of the Skills for Care Performance Management continuum.
. Explore the benefits of supervision and how it fits into a performance management framework
. Increasing understanding of when and how to give appropriate constructive feedback to staff.
. Improve communication between senior staff and those they are supervising: assertiveness &
listening skills, empathy
. Formal supervision: contracting, setting agendas and record-keeping
If you are a registered manager or know of others who are or have staff working in senior positions within registered care providers and would welcome the opportunity to build on your knowledge and skills about supervision then please get in touch with Joy Kelly on 07590 661781 or email joy.kelly@ntlworld.com
Feedback from a previous Practice Matters workshop on Supervision is on this blog – Effective supervision – Feedback from Training.
(1) Menzies-Lyth (1988) Containing Anxiety in Institutions Free Association Books
(2) Munro, E (2011) The Munro Review of Child Protection: Final Report A child-centred system Department of Education
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