• Core Components: Supervisor, supervisee, the supervisory relationship (alliance), and a clear supervision contract. 
• Supervisory Alliance: Built on trust, respect, empathy, and mutual goals. It involves: 

1. Bond – supportive relationship 
2. Goals – agreed learning aims 
3. Tasks – strategies to achieve these goals 

• Supervisor skills: Active listening, open questioning, motivational interviewing, and balancing teaching with reflection. 
• Contracting: Should specify frequency, process expectations, evaluation methods, confidentiality, and management boundaries. 
• Supervision of Supervision: Supervisors should engage in their own reflective supervision to maintain ethical and effective practice.

Functions: 

1. Formative (Learning): Enhances knowledge, skills, and competence. 
2. Restorative (Support): Provides emotional support, reduces stress, and promotes wellbeing. 
3. Normative (Accountability): Ensures ethical and professional standards are met. 

Outcomes: 

• Improved practitioner competence, confidence, wellbeing, and job satisfaction. 
• Reduced stress and burnout. 
• Enhanced quality of care, safety, and professional accountability. 
• Strengthened professional standards and workforce retention.

Supervision should commence early in a dietitian’s career and continue regularly throughout professional life. Ongoing, structured engagement ensures sustained learning and professional growth. 
Effective supervision in dietetics fosters reflective, safe, and ethical practice. It strengthens professional capability, supports emotional resilience, enhances service quality, and sustains the workforce. Commitment to regular supervision is a hallmark of contemporary, high-quality dietetic practice