article · BMC Nursing
Nurse educators in Ghanaian nursing academic institutions view supportive supervision as an empowering, relational practice rather than an inspection-driven exercise. Based on qualitative interviews across four nursing institutions in the Greater Accra Region, core components of effective supervision include constructive feedback, joint problem-solving, open communication, teamwork, and peer assessment. The supervisory relationship is largely characterised by mentoring, coaching, and guidance. Although both formal and informal supervisory models exist, informal arrangements currently predominate, which points to potential structural and policy gaps in institutional oversight. Aligning supervisory practice with adult learning and transformational leadership principles highlights the necessity of formalising support systems. Establishing clear supervisory frameworks within national regulatory standards and academic educator preparation programmes could standardise practices and strengthen teaching quality across healthcare training institutions.
High-quality healthcare relies directly on well-prepared nursing graduates, which in turn demands effective, motivated nurse educators. Moving away from rigid, inspection-based oversight to supportive coaching and joint problem-solving fosters a healthier academic environment. Understanding how educators experience supervision helps policymakers and institutional leaders establish standard frameworks that improve teaching performance and faculty retention across healthcare training institutions.
This early-stage qualitative research informs curriculum developers, healthcare regulators, and academic administrators seeking to design educator preparation programmes and institutional governance tools. While not a commercial product, the findings could serve as the foundation for standardised training modules, leadership coaching packages, or institutional audit frameworks tailored to health training facilities.
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Supportive supervision is a critical mechanism for enhancing nurse educators’ professional development and teaching effectiveness, yet its conceptualisation and practice within Ghanaian nursing academic institutions remains poorly understood. This study explored nurse educators’ perspectives on the meaning, essential elements, nature, and types of supportive supervision in nursing academic institutions in Ghana. An exploratory, descriptive qualitative study was conducted, and data were collected using in-depth interviews with 14 purposively sampled nurse educators from one public university, two private universities, and one diploma-awarding nursing training institution in the Greater Accra Region. Data were managed using QDA Miner and analysed thematically, guided by Braun and Clarke and Hsieh and Shannon, with Knowles’ Theory of Andragogy and Transformational Leadership Theory serving as interpretive frameworks. Four themes emerged: the concept of supportive supervision; elements of supportive supervision; nature of supportive supervision; and types of supportive supervision. Findings revealed an evolution from inspection-oriented to empowering supervisory conceptualisations, with joint problem-solving, constructive feedback, open communication, teamwork, and peer assessment identified as core elements. Mentoring, coaching, and guiding characterised the nature of supervision, while formal and informal types were identified — with informal supervision predominating. Supportive supervision in Ghanaian nursing academic institutions is characterised by relational, empowering practices consistent with andragogical and transformational supervisory principles. However, the dominance of informal supervision may reflect structural and policy gaps that warrant further empirical investigation. Developing formal supportive supervision frameworks through regulatory standards and educator preparation programmes warrants serious consideration as a means of strengthening equitable and transformational supervisory practice nationally.
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DOI: 10.1186/s12912-026-05236-0
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