Clinical supervision can help reduce work-related stress by providing a mechanism of support for staff, debriefing, and managing stress. Supervision may also provide opportunities for professional development, skill enhancement, identifying new ways of working with clients, validating existing clinical skills, and increasing job satisfaction [431]. Although definitions between workplaces differ, in general, clinical supervision means [1625, 1626]:
- Quality assurance and clinical safety.
- A method of improving clinical practice, which involves the worker learning new skills, problem solving effectively, and obtaining suggestions for improving practice (not line management).
- Professional support.
- Workforce development.
Evidence indicates that mental health and AOD workers who receive quality supervision are better able to function across multiple domains, manage their stress more effectively, and are less likely to experience burnout. Some of the demonstrated benefits of clinical supervision include greater job satisfaction [1627–1630], confidence, and self-capacity [1628–1630]; greater perceived opportunities for personal and professional growth [1631]; reduced staff turnover [1632]; improved development of complex clinical skills and delivery of evidence-based practice [1625, 1633, 1634]; reduced stress and burnout [1629, 1635–1637]; reduced work-related frustration [1638]; better communication between staff [1628, 1630, 1631]; and the transfer of newly acquired skills from training into practice [1639, 1640]. Further, less experienced AOD workers can benefit from clinical supervision by receiving feedback on their interpersonal style, counselling skills, and ongoing appraisal [1641]. Clinical supervision also enhances client care by contextualising client experiences to other healthcare professionals [1642]. As such, clinical supervision can improve the quality of client–AOD worker relationships and enhance treatment outcomes [1641]. These findings may explain why effective clinical supervision is associated with reduced burnout [1629], compassion fatigue [1643], and vicarious trauma [404, 1644, 1645].
In 2018, NSW Health reviewed their 2006 clinical supervision guidelines for AOD services, which may be useful for clinicians in other states. The guidelines are not prescriptive but make recommendations for best practice. They are intended to be applicable across disciplines, to all workers in AOD services who are responsible for providing services to clients. As such, the guidelines are designed to provide a comprehensive framework for local operations and encourage some degree of consistency [1625]. These guidelines are accessible via the NSW Health website: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au