title: Reflective practice and clinical supervision: an interprofessional perspective.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In the United Kingdom, the drive to encourage reflective practice through clinical supervision, as a means of ensuring quality of provision in nursing and other health care professions, is now well-embedded, not only in policy but also in practice. However, debate and critique of these concepts is limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this paper is to draw on research, conducted with undergraduate occupational therapy students and qualified physiotherapists, in order to contribute to the debate about the functions of clinical supervision and reflective practice in nursing and other health care professions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Upholding the notion that clinical supervision has the potential to constitute a form of surveillance, we counter the assumption that it is inevitably confessional in nature. A social constructionist perspective is used to illustrate how clinical supervision might involve a complex interplay of factors that dispel notions of predictability, control and rationality.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite acknowledging tensions, we argue that clinical supervision is both necessary and beneficial. It can be advantageous to individual practitioners and professional groups in enhancing practice and accountability, and promoting professional development.
authors.affiliation: Physiotherapy Subject Group, School of Health and Social Sciences, Coventry University, Coventry, UK. d.l.clouder@coventry.ac.uk
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Clouder
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sellars
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D009729:Nursing / Q000592:standards; D009745:Nursing, Supervisory / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000193:education; D026761:Physical Therapy Specialty / Q000193:education; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000592:standards