Dementia care nurses' experiences of systematic clinical group supervision and supervised planned nursing care

Aim To reveal 13 nurses' experiences of systematic clinical group supervision and supervised individually planned nursing care, while working with people suffering from severe dementia. Background Clinical supervision is a major issue in nursing, however empirical knowledge of the subject is limited. Nurse's narrations about their experiences may extend the knowledge available and serve as a basis for creating models of support systems for nurses in their care provision. Methods Open‐ended interviews were performed and the text was analysed through content analysis. A questionnaire was used to evaluate the views of the effects of clinical supervision. Findings Two main themes were found. Confirmed uniqueness included two sub‐themes: confirming the nurses as a person and as a professional and confirming the patient as a unique human being. Consolidated sense of community included three sub‐themes: closer relationship between the nurses, changed organization of nursing care and improved individualizing in routines of nursing care. The questionnaire result showed improvements in co‐operation and in providing professional nursing care and personal development. Conclusion Interventions to improve working conditions for the nurses and care quality for the patients may well focus the core process, i.e. feedback and support for the nurse–patient interaction and person‐orientated nursing care, taking into account the constellation and conditions of the group.