Introduction
Welcome to the Tasmanian Clinical Supervision Learning Package for Health Professionals that has been developed to help guide and support clinical education and supervisor training activities in Tasmania. The Health Workforce Australia (HWA) National Clinical Supervision Support Framework provides the overarching principles that inform the content of this package which aims to promote high standards of clinical supervision to all health professionals, across all disciplines and healthcare sectors. This package was first developed as part of the Tasmanian Clinical Placement Partnership Project (TCPPP) during 2012 and has been further enhanced to reflect inter-professional practice and the scope of the TCEN.
HWA is an initiative of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) which was established to address the challenges of providing a skilled, flexible and innovative health workforce that meets the needs of the Australian community, now and into the future (National Clinical Supervision Support Framework, 2011). The Tasmanian Clinical Education Network (TCEN) is Tasmania’s response to the HWA directive and plays a pivotal role in facilitating, identifying and aligning clinical training placements across the higher education and training sectors, with public and non-government health providers.
One of the projects supported by the TCEN, is the Tasmanian Clinical Supervision Support Project (TCSSP). The TCSSP aims to promote high standards of clinical supervision, expand capacity and capability of clinical supervisors, and cultivate public trust in the education and training of health professionals. This learning package has been produced in consultation with key stakeholders across Tasmania to provide the foundational knowledge required by health professionals when supervising students in the healthcare setting.
Purpose
The purpose of this learning package is to provide foundational knowledge to all health professionals involved in supervising and supporting students during clinical practice. It is not intended to replace existing resources but rather provide supporting information that aligns with contemporary teaching and learning strategies and facilitates a common understanding of the terminology used by HWA for clinical education and training within the health setting.
Scope
This learning package is appropriately situated to inform staff working in the healthcare setting who are responsible for the supervision and support of health students inclusive of: undergraduate; postgraduate; vocational entry students as well as any new staff member to an organisation. It encompasses all disciplines including nursing and midwifery, medicine, dental and allied health and covers the full spectrum of organisations, sites and settings including public and private sectors; government and non-government; not-for-profit organisations.
HOW TO USE THE LEARNING MODULE
The learning module covers the following key areas:
- Communication (Module 1)
- Learning styles (Module 2)
- Assessment (Module 3)
- Feedback (Module 4)
- Learning Environments (Module 5)
Each module has information and activities that require the learner to perform an action and then provide self-reflection on how this relates to the individual workplace and work practice.
Activities are labelled with an icon that looks like this 
. Within most activities are short video clips or quizzes that help consolidate learning. These activities are flagged by a link icon that looks like this 
. These are hyperlinks or direct pathways through to the website containing the relevant information. Please note that you will need to have computer access to YouTube to activate some of the activities. Learners are able to claim Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points by completing the learning module as the reflective work confirms the application to the practice setting. Your completed reflections will be able to be printed and kept in your professional portfolio as evidence of completion of individual Modules and/or the whole learning package.
The package will take approximately 3- 4 hours to complete.
Principles
The principles underpinning this supervision package are:
(1) Application of contemporary learning principles is fundamental to the delivery of a supervision program
(2) An effective supervision education program provides opportunities for participants to:
- Develop an understanding of the concept of competence
- Apply contemporary learning principles to the learner’s development and assessment
- Apply the principles of clinical supervision / preceptorship to practice
- Identify ongoing support through timely education, resources and communication networks
Promote a learning and teaching organisational culture through a commitment to continuous quality improvement and lifelong learning
Objectives:
At the conclusion of this module it is expected you will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the role of a clinical supervisor / preceptor
- Demonstrate the ability to assess learning needs of students
- Identify strategies to address identified learning needs of students
- Understand adult learning principles and how they can be effectively applied in the practice environment
- Develop skills and behaviours related to the effective delivery of constructive feedback
- Utilise effective communication skills in the promotion of positive learning environments
- Understand the importance of performing objective assessments related to student learning