ANA Joins the AACN Clinical Nurse Leader Implementation
and
Evaluation Task Forces
SILVER SPRING, MD - The American Association
of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) has invited the American
Nurses Association (ANA) to join the Clinical Nurse Leader
(CNL) Implementation and Evaluation Task Forces.
The Clinical Nurse Leader is a new nursing
role being developed by the AACN in collaboration with
leaders from the education and practice arenas. AACN launched
the CNL initiative in response to the call from the Institute
of Medicine and others to enhance the way nurses are educated
and employed in the practice setting. The CNL initiative
is a demonstration project that includes an extensive
evaluation component to measure care outcomes.
The ANA Board of Directors has reviewed
the working paper on the CNL and has posed a number of
questions to the AACN regarding the proposal. AACN responded
to the questions raised and invited ANA to collaborate
more closely on this project to ensure that nursing practice
issues are adequately addressed.
"The CNL proposal has significant implications
for the profession," said ANA President Barbara A.
Blakeney, MS, RN. "We appreciate AACN’s leadership
in proposing this new role and are grateful for the opportunity
to have ANA represented on these task forces, which will
help shape it," she said.
In concept, the CNL oversees the care coordination
of a distinct group of patients and actively provides
direct patient care in complex situations. This master's
degree-prepared generalist clinician will put evidence-based
practice into action to ensure that patients benefit from
the latest innovations in care delivery. The CNL will
evaluate patient outcomes, assess cohort risk, and has
the decision-making authority to change care plans when
necessary. The implementation of this role will vary across
settings and facilities.
To support the creation of this new nursing
role, AACN has launched a national pilot project involving
almost 90 education-practice partnerships in 35 states
and Puerto Rico. Partners are working together to develop
master's degree programs to prepare CNLs, integrate this
nurse clinician into the health care system, and evaluate
outcomes.
Rose Marie Martin, BSN, RN, OCN, a member
of ANA’s board of directors, will represent ANA on
the Implementation Task Force. Kathy Player, EdD, RN,
chair of ANA’s Constituent Assembly, will represent
ANA on the Evaluation Task Force.
"AACN welcomes this new collaboration
with ANA, and we value the input that Ms. Martin and Ms.
Player will have on this important effort to transform
nursing education and practice," said AACN President
Jean E. Bartels, PhD, RN.
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The American Nurses Association (ANA)
is the only full-service professional organization representing
the nation's 2.7 million registered nurses through its
54 constituent member nurses associations. The ANA advances
the nursing profession by fostering high standards of
nursing practice, promoting the rights of nurses in the
workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of
nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies
on health care issues affecting nurses and the public.
Web site: http://www.nursingworld.org
The American Association of Colleges
of Nursing is the national voice for university and
four-year-college education programs in nursing. Representing
more than 585 member schools of nursing at public and
private institutions nationwide, AACN's educational, research,
governmental advocacy, data collection, publications,
and other programs work to establish quality standards
for bachelor's- and graduate-degree nursing education,
assist deans and directors to implement those standards,
influence the nursing profession to improve health care,
and promote public support of baccalaureate and graduate
nursing education, research, and practice. Web site: http://www.aacn.nche.edu
