Executive Summary–Intern to Impact: Cultivating a Clinical Nurse Specialist Team

Abstract

The practice of the clinical nurse specialist (CNS) spans direct patient care, nursing practice, and healthcare systems improvement; however, the role remains largely misunderstood and underutilized in clinical practice settings. The following manuscript details a quality improvement project in which a proposal for a CNS Intern role was developed to mitigate both issues simultaneously. Surveys were conducted to determine stakeholders’ understanding of CNS practice. This information was utilized to outline a CNS Intern role to be presented to nurse executives at the project site. Finally, a post-survey was conducted to collect feedback on the resulting clarity surrounding the understanding of CNS practice and the viability of the CNS Intern role. Survey results indicated that the proposal improved stakeholders’ understanding of the CNS scope of practice. Respondents also agreed that the CNS Intern role is a viable method for facilitating the timely growth of an effective CNS team, which will be instrumental in achieving strategic initiatives to realize the organization’s mission and vision.