The Buddying model in the clinical supervision of nurses: A scoping review protocol

• Author(s): Cruz, Nuno ; Catarino, Paula ; Costa, Cristina ; Rosinhas, Ana ; Silva, Mafalda
• Date: 2025
• Origin: Athena Health & Research Journal
• Subject(s): Nursing; Perceptorship; Clinical competence; buddying model; clinical supervision
• Document Type: Journal article
• Language: English

Description

Introduction: The Buddying model has emerged as a promising approach to clinical nursing supervision, emphasizing the development of professional and personal competencies through structured, personalized peer support. It fosters a culture of continuous learning and intra-professional collaboration, contributing to the ongoing improvement of care quality and patient safety. Its adaptability across diverse clinical environments and organizational contexts underscores its relevance and potential impact in contemporary nursing practice. Objective: To map the available scientific evidence on the characteristics of the Buddying model in the clinical supervision of nurses. Methodology: This scoping review follows the guidelines of the Joanna Briggs Institute. The search will be carried out in PubMed; CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE Complete and Nursing & Allied Health Collection (via EBSCOhost). Grey literature will also be searched through OpenGrey and the Portuguese Open Access Scientific Repository. There will be no time and language restrictions. The principles of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews will be adopted and evidence tables will be drawn up for data extraction. Conclusions:  The proposed scoping review shall provide a comprehensive overview of the Buddying model as applied to the clinical supervision of nurses, explore its characteristics, and identify gaps in the existing evidence. It is expected to contribute to a deeper understanding of the model’s potential to support skill development and enhance the quality and safety of nursing care.