Aim Increase understanding of nursing leadership in group clinical supervision (CS).
Background Leadership in CS has received little interest besides the theories in use
and administrative CS.
Method Hermeneutic interpretation of written narratives of 24 clinical nurse
supervisors.
Results Continuity in structuring, story and mission and reflection in group and
leadership processes and theories of nursing and caring characterize leadership in
CS. Leadership by inhibiting and creating fear, inapproachability and indistinctiveness
were patterns in content brought to CS. Supervision when leadership was
involved illuminated a reflexive change in focus from leadership to nursing care,
from particular experiences to nursing and caring science, and from the unfamiliar
to the well known and the well known to the unknown.
Conclusions Continuity and reflective changes using nursing and caring theories
seem to be core ideas of nursing leadership from the perspective of CS. The poles of
separation and communion show opposites of nursing leadership as it is illuminated
in CS. The findings add knowledge to Bondas theory of caritative leadership.
Implications for nursing management CS is a reflexive practice of support and
guidance that seems to have an impact on the trajectory of nursing care and staff
development using nursing and caring theories.