Clinical supervision has become an established part of nursing. Implemented in various different ways it has attracted attention from the research, educator and practice communities. The literature reported and analysed in this paper describes work that may benefit professional practice but there continue to be questions about application and method. Two new messages arise from the literature. The first underscores the responsibility of health care organisations to sustain and develop clinical supervision and the second points to the potential benefit that clinical supervision may have on patient outcomes.