The use of narrative in preparing mental health nursing staff to undertake clinical supervision

Abstract

There is considerable interest in the use of narrative by healthcare professionals. This ranges from those who are exploring its use as a therapeutic method through to those who are interested in its use within research. This paper examines, through a personal reflective account, the use of narrative as a method of engaging participants in the learning process within a training programme* preparing mental health nursing staff to undertake clinical supervision. The paper suggests that the use of narrative is a much more powerful method of facilitating learning than the use (and in many cases over use) of technology such as PowerPoint and overhead projector. This paper argues that effective clinical supervisors assist in the ‘telling of stories’ and therefore it makes sense to encourage story telling and story listening within the training programme itself. Here, I also describe the facilitator** style required to encourage the sharing of narratives. This paper discusses, albeit briefly, the use of group teaching methods that foster a ‘sense of community’ countering a sense of isolation and disengagement which, I suggest, is very much apparent in modern day society and a symptom of burnout, and frequently observed in mental health nurses