Clinical supervision can be a powerful tool in the right hands. marianne bending provides a timely summary of its benefits for learning disability nurses

An important aspect of every nurse’s role is to improve the quality of his or her practice and personal development. Clinical supervision is increasingly becoming recognised as a powerful way of achieving these aims. Clinical supervision has been defined as ‘an exchange between practising professionals to enable the development of professional skills’ (Butterworth 1995) and is endorsed by the United Kingdom Central Council (UKCC1996b) as a way of improving standards of care within an often uncertain and changing health and social care environment (Open University1998). Despite the potential benefits of clinical supervision, its use in learning disability nursing is sporadic. Therefore, this article will remind nurses of the benefits of clinical supervision to learning disability nurses.