An Exploration of Staff Member’s Experiences of Receiving Clinical Supervision using Virtual Platforms, during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Background: Supervision is an integral part of standard practice within Clinical Psychology. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, much of the UK’s population were required to work from home, leading to an increase in supervision being conducted via virtual platforms.Objective: To explore clinical health psychology staff members’ experiences of receiving supervision virtually. Method: A mixed-methods approach was adopted to explore 12 practitioners experience of remote supervision. This was completed online and consisted of the Supervisory Relationship Questionnaire and eight open-ended questions. Descriptive data were analysed using Microsoft Excel and qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Participant’s ratings of the supervisory relationship were high. Overall, practitioners found virtual supervision positive, but still preferred face to face supervision. Clinician’s reported that the pre-established relationship with supervisors was important and building a new supervisory relationship virtually was more challenging. Discussion: This study highlights the importance of monitoring supervisory relationships whilst supervision is delivered virtually. Recommendations made by participants for virtual supervision should be used to support this.

Seven tips for clinical supervision in the time of COVID 19

Virtual care (VC) rapidly has become the preferred care model in family medicine settings during the COVID-19 pandemic. Both residents and preceptors must rapidly adapt and develop new skills to provide and supervise virtual care. The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) created a VC supervision guide for family medicine residents and preceptors by quickly mobilizing a consensus driven approach leveraging existing CFPC educational committees, representing a broad range of teachers and residents in the country. The guide can be adapted to other settings and is provided in the hopes of being helpful to all preceptors providing VC and (virtual) supervision during the pandemic.

Virtual supervision of pharmacy undergraduate research projects during the COVID-19 lockdown in Zimbabwe

The coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has led to national lockdowns in multiple states. The education system, including pharmacy education, has been negatively affected by the subsequent closure of universities. Many institutions have resorted to virtual learning, which work best in settings with fast, stable internet connections and where electricity is readily available. In resource-limited settings, popular virtual interaction platforms like Zoom may not work, and educators have to devise novel ways to continue teaching. The University of Zimbabwe used innovative mobile phone-based processes to ensure continuation of the final-year pharmacy students’ honours research projects, supervision, and timely submission. This facilitated rapid communication between students and professors and allowed effective guidance for the students’ research process. All students completed their projects; 13 out of 16 submitted their write-ups within the deadline; all students passed, 69% scored an upper second (2.1) grade or better, indicating the high quality of the majority of the research projects.

Nurses striving to provide caregiver with excellent support and care at a distance: a qualitative study

Background In Norway, changes in life expectancy have led to increased attention to older people who are ageing at home, by means of home care services, adapted technology and informal caregivers. The caring situation has become difficult for many caregivers. The use of telecare has now offered them the possibility to receive support at home. The purpose of this study was to explore how nurses provide support and care at a distance, using a web camera and a web forum in a closed telecare network for caregivers to persons suffering from stroke and dementia. Methods The study had an explorative design with a qualitative approach. The data sources consisted of interviews with nurses and excerpts from posts in a closed telecare network. Content analysis was used to analyse the text from the interviews and the text from the web forum. Results The main theme, “Balancing asymmetric and symmetric relationships” described nurses’ relationship with caregiver. Two categories, “Balancing personal and professional qualities” and “Balancing caregivers’ dependence versus independence” were identified. The first describing the tension in their dialogue, the second describing how nurses provided the caregivers with a sense of security as well as strengthening them to master their daily lives. Conclusions The nurses provided long distance support and care for the caregivers, by using computer-meditated communication. This communication was characterized by closeness as well as empathy. To strengthen the caregivers’ competence and independence, the nurses were easy accessible and provided virtual supervision and support. This study increases the knowledge about online dialogues and relationship between nurses and caregivers. It contributes to knowledge about balancing in the relationship, as well as knowledge about bridging the gap between technologies and nursing care as potential conflicting dimensions. Maintenance of ethical principles are therefore critical to be aware of.

Managing Effectively in Virtual Work Contexts

This chapter offers an empirical examination of supervisory behaviors perceived to be effective in a virtual office setting. The study presented in this chapter is driven by a general research question: What behaviors are perceived to be effective when managing individuals virtually? To address this research question, the authors collected data in a Midwestern government organization that recently transitioned its employees to virtual offices. They conducted interviews with, and distributed surveys to, managers and employees during and after the organization's transition to a virtual office. Based on the analysis, the authors present eight virtual supervision competencies and measures of these competencies adapted for, or developed in, this project. The competencies are trust, organizational identification, technology, buy-in, communication, evaluation, knowledge management, and hiring.

Managing Effectively in Virtual Work Contexts

This chapter offers an empirical examination of supervisory behaviors perceived to be effective in a virtual office setting. The study presented in this chapter is driven by a general research question: What behaviors are perceived to be effective when managing individuals virtually? To address this research question, the authors collected data in a Midwestern government organization that recently transitioned its employees to virtual offices. They conducted interviews with, and distributed surveys to, managers and employees during and after the organization’s transition to a virtual office. Based on the analysis, the authors present eight virtual supervision competencies and measures of these competencies adapted for, or developed in, this project. The competencies are trust, organizational identification, technology, buy-in, communication, evaluation, knowledge management, and hiring.