GEN36 Make use of supervision

Overview

This standard is about making use of a supervisor and supervisory sessions to enable you to develop your professional competence and work with individuals reliably, consistently, effectively, ethically and safely. Your supervisor may be internal or external to your agency, and may be an experienced practitioner working in a similar position to yourself. Many agencies use peer supervision or group supervision to good effect. Users of this standard will need to ensure that practice reflects up to date information and policies. Version No 1

Knowledge and Understanding

You will need to know and understand:

1. Your organisation's policy on confidentiality
2. Your own professional competence and its limitations
3. Different approaches to supervision and how to evaluate their relevance to your work
4. Ways of addressing any conflict between the needs of your organisation and your personal needs
5. Ways of organising and presenting work for supervision
6. How to prioritise and make best use of time in supervision
7. Professional requirements and procedures for supervision
8. How to create an agenda for supervision
9. How to choose an appropriate method of case work presentation
10. Ways of reviewing supervision
11. Your responses to difficulties in case work and bringing these to supervision
12. Your own feelings towards supervision and your supervisor
13. Potential blocks to you making the best use of supervision
14. Your personal needs and where these should be addressed
15. Your feelings about being held accountable
16. Your feelings about change and endings and the significance of change or ending his relationship
17. Your previous experience of endings
18. Different working practices in supervision
19. Your relationship with your supervisor
20. The potential for the supervisory relationship

Performance Criteria

You must be able to do the following:

1. identify the nature of the supervision you require
2. assess the available supervision in relation to your identified needs
3. select a qualified supervisor to best meet your needs
4. identify the role and value of supervision as a key component in professional practice
5. seek the frequency of supervision necessary for safe effective practice
6. clarify the context, accountability and arrangements for supervision, and explore the implications of these with your supervisor
7. clarify and agree with your supervisor:
1. roles
2. joint responsibilities
3. commitments
4. aims and objectives
5. ways of working
6. arrangements for monitoring and reviewing the supervision
7. the timing and process of changing or ending the supervisory relationship
8. negotiate a supervisory contract with your supervisor which:
1. meets the identified purposes of the supervision
2. identifies the content and agenda for each supervisory session with your supervisor
9. recognise appropriate cases and aspects of your work which require attention in supervision
10. bring mistakes and difficult moments in therapeutic practice to supervision
11. manage and use the anxieties around supervision to engage in non-defensive reflection, during and following, supervision
12. develop the ability to question and challenge your supervisor and use this as a tool for your own development
13. use your reflections on the supervisory relationship in supervision and to inform aspects of your work with individuals
14. review the process, outcomes and continuing effectiveness of supervision against the aims and objectives
15. consider any possible changes to the current supervision
16. identify unresolved issues, future supervision requirements and ways of achieving these

Additional Information

This National Occupational Standard was developed by Skills for Health. This standard links with the following dimension within the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (October 2004): Dimension: Core 2 Personal and People Development This standard has replaced DANOS AC2.