Clinical supervision (CS) is a facilitator process of professional support and learning with the purpose to improve practice, the quality and safety of care, based on interactive functions: formative, restorative and normative (Proctor, 1987).
In Portugal the primary health care incorporate Integrated Continuous Care Units (ICCU) where nurses, providing care to people in situations of dependency, helping them to regain or maintain their independence and maximize their quality of life.
Aim: The study aimed to identify the core elements of the Clinical Supervision (CS) process for Integrated Continuous Care Units (ICCU) nurses.
Methodology: Qualitative study, data were collected using half-structured interviews, with a sample of 16 nurses from a primary health care center, between May and December of 2012.
Data analysis, through content analysis according to the principles of the grounded theory method, using the program Nvivo10. Ethical approval was granted by the Board of Director and Ethic Committee.
Results: In the nurses’ discourse were identified elements of formative, restorative and normative functions, as the base of Clinical Supervision (CS) process in the Integrated Continuous Care Units (ICCU).
In formative category were identified some properties: reflection on practice; development of critical thinking; development of scientific knowledge; orientation research the best scientific evidence; continuing education; individual and professional development.
In restorative category were identified some properties: emotional support; positive reinforcement; nurses’ professional motivation; supervisor collaboration in care.
In normative category were identified some properties: observation of practice; identification of training needs; formative feedback; ensure standards; ensure ethical issues.
Conclusion: This study was concluded that nurses of Integrated Continuous Care Units (ICCU) consider that Clinical Supervision (CS) process must be based on intrinsic elements of the three interactive functions of Proctor (1987), which corroborates much of the main research in this specific area, both in primary care or in a hospital organization.