Advanced psychiatric nurse practitioners’ ideas and needs for supervision in private practice in South Africa

Background: Supervision forms an integral part of psychiatric nursing. The value of clinical supervision has been demonstrated widely in research. Despite efforts made toward advanced psychiatric nursing, supervision seems to be non-existent in this field. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore and describe advanced psychiatric nurse practitioners’ ideas and needs with regard to supervision in private practice in order to contribute to the new efforts made in advanced psychiatric nursing in South Africa. Method: A qualitative, descriptive, exploratory, and contextual design using a phenomenological approach as research method was utilised in this study. A purposive sampling was used. Eight advanced psychiatric nurse practitioners in private practice described their ideas and needs for supervision during phenomenological interviews. Tesch’s method of open coding was utilised to analyse data. After data analysis the findings were recontextualised within literature. Results: The data analysis generated the following themes – that the supervisor should have or possess: (a) professional competencies, (b) personal competencies and (c) specific facilitative communication skills. The findings indicated that there was a need for supervision of advanced psychiatric nurse practitioners in private practice in South Africa. Conclusion: This study indicates that there is need for supervision and competent supervisors in private practice. Supervision can be beneficial with regard to developing a culture of support for advanced psychiatric practitioners in private practice and also psychiatric nurse practitioners

Young families become mindful of their possibilities through the appreciation of their family life

Young families, as viewed through a multi-generational lens, provide the environment in which children can be nurtured and socialised. The purpose of the research is to explore and describe how the parents and grandparents of young families appreciate their family life. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual multiple case study design was used to conduct the study. Purposive sampling methods were applied to select families according to the sampling criteria, each family representing an individual case study. Appreciative inquiry interviews were conducted with the young parents and available grandparents, during which the participants were asked four open-ended questions. Data collection was enriched by means of reflective letters to participants, collages created by the young parents, and the researcher's field notes and journal inscriptions. The data collected from each individual case study was analysed and then synthesised by means of a cross-case analysis. A cross-case validation report was compiled. The themes and categories that emerged from the data were discussed. The research study concluded that when young families embarked on a journey of discovering their strengths and potential in the larger family system, they creatively envision and discovered the possibilities to transform their destiny in a purposeful and constructive way