Clinical
Nurse Leader Update
January
27, 2005
AONE Joins
the AACN Clinical Nurse Leader
Implementation Task Force
The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN)
has invited the American Organization of Nurse Executives (AONE)
to join the Clinical Nurse Leader Implementation Task Force. This
group will be overseeing the pilot projects that are experimenting
with the Clinical Nurse Leader role developed by AACN. Karen Haase-Herrick,
AONE Past-President, will represent AONE. Many of the clinical partners
in the AACN project are AONE members. Since one of AONEs major
initiatives is the redesign of patient care delivery models for
the future, there is good synergy for both associations in this
work. The redesign for our future requires experimentation from
a variety of perspectives. AACNs development of the Clinical
Nurse Leader role is one approach that has attracted the support
of 74 academic programs and 142 clinical partners. AONE welcomes
the opportunity to participate in the implementation of this experiment
with a new role.
In the spring of 2004, AONE released the "Guiding
Principles for Future Patient Care Delivery Models". These
principles are congruent with the AACN Clinical Nurse Leader project
and serve as the basis for AONEs support of this work. The
AONE Board believes that innovative pilots such as AACNs Clinical
Nurse Leader are critical to informing the field for the future.
AACN and AONE look forward to the results of the evaluation of this
project, and welcome the opportunity to collaborate.
See our Web site for the latest news and background
information on the Clinical
Nurse Leader initiative.
August
27, 2004
Dear CNL
Academic and Practice Partners:
On behalf of the AACN Clinical
Nurse Leader
Implementation Task Force, we hope you have had a wonderful summer!
The Implementation Task Force and AACN staff have been busy this
summer planning the next steps and implementing a number of the
recommendations that were made at and following the June 16 &
17 CNL meeting. First, we would strongly recommend, if you have
not already had an opportunity recently to review the materials
posted on the AACN website regarding the CNL
Initiative, that you take the opportunity to do so. All of the
slides and handouts from the June meeting have been posted as well
as summaries of the two small group working sessions and a list
of the education and practice institutions partnering to implement
the CNL initiative. Also, the presentation made at the ANA meeting
in Minneapolis, June 27, has been posted. Other activities that
have been undertaken or are ongoing include:
- The first quarterly report will be sent
to the dean or identified designee for each CNL Partnership in early September.
Completed electronic reports will be expected to be returned to AACN by the end
of September. This first quarterly report focuses primarily on the establishment
of oversight committees and getting buy-in for the project. As promised, the quarterly
reports will be kept as succinct and brief as possible but will still allow us
to gather the necessary information from each partnership to move the project
forward.
- An Evaluation Model, based
on David Norton's and Robert Kaplan's "Balanced Scorecard"
is being developed and should be sent to each of you by early
September. The data elements proposed in the Evaluation Model
for the CNL project are based on the feedback received from each
of the CNL Partnerships at the June meeting. A complete summary
of the June 17, small group lunch discussions can be accessed
at online. In the December quarterly report each practice partner
(institution) will be asked to identify at least one data element
in each of the four categories, which they will commit to collect
as a baseline or have collected in the past year for the entire
institution and for the specific unit(s) being used to pilot the
CNL project. These same data elements will be collected on an
ongoing basis or at some designated interval for the institution
and the individual CNL implementation unit(s).
- Regional meetings, for late
fall through spring 2005, are being planned for the CNL partnerships. The focus
of these regional meetings will be on health care work redesign and further conceptualization
of the CNL role. Also, there will be opportunities for individuals/partnerships
implementing the CNL project to interact and share strategies and questions.
- As you are having ongoing
discussions within your partnership and with other stakeholders, the Implementation
Task Force encourages you to review page 12 in the Working Paper on the Role of
the Clinical Nurse Leader; there is an excellent summary of the broad components
or role expectations for the CNL.
- The
Implementation Task Force Curriculum Subcommittee is continuing to refine and
clarify the Curriculum Framework presented at the June 16 & 17 meeting. It
is anticipated that a slightly revised version will be available in October, but
that it will not differ significantly from the June 2004 version.
- AACN
staff are working with a small group of individual CNSs to develop a document
that compares the CNL and CNS roles and describes how these two roles can complement
one another.
- AACN staff
have continued discussions with external representatives regarding the development
of a CNL certification examination. To further this activity, each partnership
will be asked to provide some information in the September quarterly report regarding
their projected date and number of first CNL graduates and potential CNL curriculum
and practice content experts.
- AACN staff
have had conversations with a number of external groups and organizations interested
in the CNL initiative. One of these is the Plexus Institute. This organization
is sponsoring a workshop, "Creating
Healthcare Organizations Where Nurses Thrive," that focuses on nursing,
complexity, and healthcare leadership. The workshop will be held September 29
October 1, 2004, at the Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, New Jersey.
Marge Wiggins, Vice President of Nursing at Maine Medical Center, and a member
of the CNL Implementation Task Force, will be presenting at the workshop and leading
a discussion on the CNL initiative.
As you can see, a lot of activity has been taking place. We are extremely energized
by the quantity and enthusiasm of contacts we have received regarding questions
you may have and updates on activities that you are undertaking. We also have
received many contacts from interested students, practicing nurses, and health
care institutions that are interested and want to be a part of the CNL initiative.
Many of these contacts we have forwarded to you, the education and practice partners,
implementing this project so don't be surprised if you receive calls and questions.
Thank you for your ongoing energy and support. Although we are at the very beginning
of this exciting initiative, we are already seeing growing enthusiasm and anticipation
for the outcomes!
Sincerely, Jolene
Tornabeni, RN, MA, FACHE, FAAN Chair, CNL Implementation Task Force Joan
Stanley, PhD, RN, CRNP Director of Education Policy & Implementation Task
Force Staff Liaison
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