Clinical Nurse Specialists
In 2011, an American nurse named Kimberly Hiatt died by suicide after causing the death of an infant while working at a hospital specializing in newborn care. She had given the infant an incorrect dose of a prescribed medication, which led to the baby's death. Kimberly Hiatt couldn't bear what she had done, and guilt drove her to suicide just a few months after the incident. According to a number of studies and statistics, medical errors made by doctors and nurses kill more people around the world every year than plane crashes, terrorist attacks, and drug use combined. Human error happens in medicine just as it does in any other field, but its direct link to human life and death always makes it especially controversial and troubling. Still, that shouldn't make us overlook the tremendous efforts medical teams put in to save millions of lives every day. Medical errors may come from doctors even more often than from nurses, often due to some doctors' lack of experience or the long hours and heavy workload they carry. To avoid this and reduce errors as much as possible, hospitals around the world have started making a point of hiring a specific type of nurse with extensive experience and skills, particularly those holding advanced degrees in healthcare, known as "clinical nurse specialists." Clinical nurse specialists are tasked with training nurses to use modern medical equipment and devices and helping them provide the best possible care to patients, in addition to identifying the difficulties and problems nurses face at work and helping resolve them, teaching them how to overcome such challenges. A clinical nurse specialist is also responsible for spotting any flaws or errors in the healthcare systems provided to patients and reporting them to management, and often works directly with patients, explaining how their treatment journey will unfold and what services they'll receive during their hospital stay. In the lines ahead, you'll learn in more detail about the responsibilities of a clinical nurse specialist across the various hospitals and medical facilities where they work.
Meet the Writer: Waleed Abo Omiraa
What You'll Actually Do
The core tasks and responsibilities that fill a typical day.
- Coordinate or conduct educational programs or in-service training sessions on topics such as clinical procedures.
- Observe, interview, and assess patients to identify care needs.
- Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of nursing practice or organizational systems.
- Provide direct care by performing comprehensive health assessments, developing differential diagnoses, conducting specialized tests, or prescribing medications or treatments.
- Provide specialized direct and indirect care to inpatients and outpatients within a designated specialty, such as obstetrics, neurology, oncology, or neonatal care.
- Maintain departmental policies, procedures, objectives, or infection control standards.
- Collaborate with other health care professionals and service providers to ensure optimal patient care.
- Develop nursing service philosophies, goals, policies, priorities, or procedures.
- Develop, implement, or evaluate standards of nursing practice in specialty area, such as pediatrics, acute care, and geriatrics.
- Develop or assist others in development of care and treatment plans.
- Make clinical recommendations to physicians, other health care providers, insurance companies, patients, or health care organizations.
- Plan, evaluate, or modify treatment programs, based on information gathered by observing and interviewing patients or by analyzing patient records.
- Present clients with information required to make informed health care and treatment decisions.
- Instruct nursing staff in areas such as the assessment, development, implementation, and evaluation of disability, illness, management, technology, or resources.
- Direct or supervise nursing care staff in the provision of patient therapy.
- Identify training needs or conduct training sessions for nursing students or medical staff.
- Read current literature, talk with colleagues, or participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in nursing.
- Monitor or evaluate medical conditions of patients in collaboration with other health care professionals.
- Participate in clinical research projects, such as by reviewing protocols, reviewing patient records, monitoring compliance, and meeting with regulatory authorities.
- Perform discharge planning for patients.
- Prepare reports to document patients' care activities.
- Write nursing orders.
- Provide consultation to other health care providers in areas such as patient discharge, patient care, or clinical procedures.
- Develop and maintain departmental policies, procedures, objectives, or patient care standards, based on evidence-based practice guidelines or expert opinion.
- Design evaluation programs regarding the quality and effectiveness of nursing practice or organizational systems.
- Design patient education programs that include information required to make informed health care and treatment decisions.
- Lead nursing department implementation of, or compliance with, regulatory or accreditation processes.
- Chair nursing departments or committees.
- Teach patient education programs that include information required to make informed health care and treatment decisions.
- Provide coaching and mentoring to other caregivers to help facilitate their professional growth and development.