Nursing supervision: a management tool.

Abstract

Supervision is a management tool in the nurse’s working context. This qualitative exploratory-descriptive study aimed at understanding how the work routine of nurses in supervisory positions is organized. Data were collected by semi-structured interviews with five subjects working at Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and submitted to content analysis. Supervisors’ work demand increased due to their administrative tasks, requiring more attention when prioritizing actions. Subjects also believed face-to-face contact with the nursing team extremely important to manage routine nursing tasks. This study also makes some contributions as to the supervisor’s profile, and some reflections his/her tasks.