Supervision

The purpose of this guide is to assist the Appraising Officer (Supervisor) and the Appraisee in the effective implementation of the PAS in the Civil Service and Local Authorities. [from introduction]

The detrimental effects of burnout on nurses’ health and wellbeing are well documented and positive leadership has been shown to be an important organizational resource for discouraging the development of burnout. Intrapersonal resources also play a protective role against workplace stressors. This study investigated the influence of authentic leadership, an organizational resource, and psychological capital, an intrapersonal resource, on new graduate burnout, occupational satisfaction, and workplace mental health over the first year of employment (n = 205). [from abstract]

This paper undertakes a review of the existing management and leadership literature from LMIC settings with a view to unpacking the roles of leaders and managers,
the competencies required, and the key approaches to developing these management and leadership competencies. [from summary]

To determine the impact of supervision strategies used in low- and middle-income countries and discuss implementation and feasibility issues with a focus on [Community Health Workers]. [Adapted from abstract]

This study aimed to identify the levels of leadership practices among head nurses as expected and perceived by staff nurses and to compare the differences between expectation and perception of staff nurses toward leadership practices of head nurses in public hospitals of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. [from abstract]

This paper presents the standard evaluation results of facilitative supervisory visits, which form an integral part of a new system of management for Ghana’s community-based health planning services. [adapted from abstract]

Supervision plays a key role in performance and motivation, but is frequently characterized by periodic inspection and control, rather than support and feedback to improve performance. This paper explores the perceptions of district health management teams in Tanzania and Malawi on their role as supervisors and on the challenges to effective supervision at the district level. [from abstract]

This brief describes the process and outcomes of a project in Nigeria that developed a standard, integrated tuberculosis (TB) supervision checklist to assess and monitor diagnostic laboratories and TB services at the facility-level in the public and private sectors, which was deployed using smartphones. [adapted from author]

This presentation from the Irish Forum for Global Health 2012 outlines research that explored the perceptions of district health management teams in Tanzania and Malawi on their role as supervisors and the challenges to effective supervision at the district level. [adapted from author]

This learning resource package for supervisors in medium-to-large facilities and for district-level supervisors is developed around aspects of performance improvement and quality of healthcare services, focusing on essential skills required to work with staff and members of the community in establishing standards and problem solving. [from publisher]

This study identifies the implications of different types of supervision for healthcare worker job satisfaction and intention to leave the workplace in Malawi, Tanzania, and Mozambique. [adapted from author]

This report outlines an intervention that utilized supportive supervision in 86 facilities around Ethiopia that aimed to: enable healthcare workers to practice new skills in infection prevention and control (IPC) following formal trainings; coach health care facility staff to improve their performance in order to meet recommended IPC standards; improve the skills of supervisors for independent program monitoring; integrate IPC into the routine health care supervision system; and monitor the changes in program performance as a result of these activities. [adapted from author]

This document is an evaluation of the implementation of a tool to assist in supervision, assessment and creation of action plans for quality improvement in facilities where TB is diagnosed and treated. [adapated from introduction]

This brief outlines the need for supportive supervision, the challenges to its implementation in the Pacific, and recommendations to address these. [adapted from author]

This presentation outlines an intervention that introduced PDAs or Smartphones for data collection in Nigeria to improve the supervision, assessment and creation of action plans for quality improvement in facilities where tuberculosis (TB) is diagnosed and treated. [adapted from author]

This qualitative paper reports on the experience of three community health worker (CHW) supervisors who were responsible for supporting infant feeding peer counsellors. The findings highlight the complexities of supervising and supporting CHWs. [adapted from abstract]

The objectives of this article were summarise opinion about what supervision of primary health care is by those advocating it; compare these features with reports describing supervision in practice; and to appraise the evidence of the effects of sector performance. [adapted from summary]

The Capacity Project worked with governments and partners in Central America and Uganda to test approaches for strengthening supervision systems in the health sector, as one component of the Project’s workforce performance support strengthening. [from summary]

This brief includes the results of the Project’s performance support (PS) interventions, and discusses factors that contributed to those results. The brief shares the common intervention model, analyzes the variations in content, context and methods of the interventions and discusses how similarities and differences played a role in the results. Finally, the brief includes recommendations for implementing and scaling up PS interventions. [from author]

This presentation outlines a new vision of supportive supervision that is an ongoing process, forges relationships within the system and reinforces quality outcomes at all levels. [adapted from author]

The aims of this publication are to encourage midwives and student midwives to make the most of supervision by working in partnership with their supervisor; provide clear information about the supervisory process and the interface between supervision and midwifery practice; and inform midwives and student midwives about the changing role of the supervisor of midwives. [from introduction]

This curriculum focuses on the fundamentals of quality health care services in presenting an approach to supervision that emphasizes mentoring, joint problem solving, and two-way communication. It is meant to be used by trainers who introduce the facilitative approach to supervision to supervisors from different levels of the health system: on-site and off-site supervisors, including medical and nonmedical supervisors. [from publisher]

This brief describes PATH’s project to implement supportive supervision techniques to improve health worker training in Indonesia.

In Senegal, traditional supervision often focuses more on collection of service statistics than on evaluation of service quality. This approach yields limited information on quality of care and does little to improve providers’ competence. In response to this challenge, Management Sciences for Health (MSH) has implemented a program of formative supervision. This multifaceted, problem-solving approach collects data on quality of care, improves technical competence, and engages the community in improving reproductive health care. [abstract]

This Self-Assessment Inventory outlines the major areas of competence an effective supervisor must have. The competency areas are sub-divided into categories which correspond to the major functions supervisors perform. Its primary use is as a self-assessment tool. Individuals are encouraged to use it to assess their competence and performance as supervisors and use the results to develop a plan for improvement. This Inventory can also be used as a guide to curriculum development for Supervisory Training, using the components as the basis for a needs assessment exercise. [purpose]

This leaflet has been designed as an introduction to clinical supervision. It aims to stimulate ideas and to encourage occupational health nurses to set up supervision practice in their workplaces. Clinical supervision isn’t a management tool, but can be used as a support and prompt to professional practice in a creative way. [from introduction]

The objectives of this presentation are to provide participants with an understanding of the role of leaders and managers in promoting quality services and to have participants identify action steps/interventions to promote quality at different levels of the health system. [from author’s description]

In this setting, physicians were already making site visits to clinics to monitor technical standards of care. An intervention was designed to reinforce doctors’ interpersonal communication (IPC) training. Under the intervention, doctors received IPC job aids, self-assessment forms, and tape recorders. They taped themselves during consultations and assessed their skills from the recordings, using the forms and in consultation with their supervisors. The self-assessment form and the supervisor assessment form were modified to be reproduced in this report. [publisher’s description]

The Family Planning Manager’s Handbook is a standard text in management training courses around the world and has received wide recognition as a practical guide for managers of health and family planning programs. [publisher’s description]

Ensuring the availability of essential drugs and using them appropriately are crucial if limited resources for health care are to be used optimally. While training of health workers throughout Zimbabwe in drug management (including stock management and rational drug use) resulted in significant improvements in a variety of drug use indicators, these achievements could not be sustained, and a new strategy was introduced based on the supervision of primary health care providers.