Nurses' and midwives' experiences of clinical supervision in practice: a scoping review protocol

Objective To outline and examine what evidence exists related to nurses' and midwives' experiences of participating in clinical supervision. Introduction The practice of clinical supervision is increasingly prevalent in nursing and midwifery, yet disparity remains in relation to professionals' understanding and experience of this clinical support and how it is implemented in practice. This scoping review will identify the available evidence and gaps in knowledge that exist in relation to nurses' and midwives' experience of this practice and examine how the various forms are defined in the literature. Methods and analysis Comprehensive searches of CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE (EBSCO), PsycINFO (EBSCO), Embase, Scopus and the Cochrane Library will be carried out. Grey literature will also be searched and all results will be screened independently by two reviewers using identified inclusion and exclusion criteria. All empirical data that identify and report nurses' and midwives' experiences of clinical supervision will be included in the review. Studies that include other health and social care professionals will be excluded where the nursing and midwifery cohort is not reported independently. Data from all relevant studies will be extracted using a validated adapted data extraction form. Our review will be guided by the Joanne Briggs Institute Methodology and findings will be guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocols Extension for Scoping Reviews statement. Ethics and dissemination This review does not require ethical approval. Our dissemination strategy includes peer-reviewed publication, presentation and conferences and sharing through stakeholder networks.