University of Florida College of Nursing to implement new Clinical Nurse Leader track beginning in summer 2005
How do you tackle the nursing shortage and patient care crisis when the number of nurses falls far short of those needed to work in the increasingly complex health care settings of the future? The answer: educate a new kind of nurse.
As part of a national pilot program, beginning in summer 2005, the University of Florida College of Nursing will admit its first class of students to become that new kind of nurse, the Clinical Nurse Leader.
For today鈥檚 patients, the health care system is often a confusing maze. Fragmentation of patient care, complex technology and severity of illness contribute to patients鈥� frustrations with hospital and health care facilities. A series of reports in the past several years by bodies such as the Institute of Medicine, the American Hospital Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation confirm the need for a better educated nursing workforce and for reforms in health-care delivery overall. The reports state that while there is a need for more nurses to alleviate the shortage, simply increasing numbers of nurses will not address the critical problems in patient care.
National nursing leaders believe that the CNL role can address these issues and make significant contributions to improvements in health care. UF is among 74 participating colleges nationally were chosen to pilot the CNL program.
The CNL provides the link between the patient and the health care setting. CNLs will collaborate with the patient鈥檚 family members, seek consultation with other members of the health care team and serve as the patient鈥檚 advocate in the health care system. The CNL will be a source of emotional support, empowerment and knowledge for patients and their families. The CNL will be a resource to other nurses and health care providers.
In short, the CNL focuses on ways for hospitals and other health care facilities to provide the best possible patient care.
鈥淣ursing education must attract and retain the best clinical nurses for our health care settings,鈥� said Kathleen Ann Long, Ph.D., A.P.R.N., F.A.A.N., dean of the University of Florida College of Nursing. 鈥淭he new CNL program will attract nurses who want to advance their knowledge and abilities while retaining a focus on direct patient care.鈥�
The Clinical Nurse Leader will be a master鈥檚 degree-prepared generalist clinician who effectively coordinates, manages and evaluates care for individuals and groups of patients. The CNL will function as part of the client鈥檚 health care team and will bring a high level of clinical competence and knowledge to the point of care.
The national CNL pilot program was developed by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, in consultation with AACN members, nursing practice leaders, regulators and other health professions.
AACN nursing education leaders collaborated with nursing practice leaders to consider models for education and practice that would be patient-centered, cost-effective and quality-driven. They identified the need for a new kind of nursing professional, the CNL.
The CNL is a partnership between nursing education and practice. Currently, the college has one of the largest groups of CNL practice partners in the nation. The five practice partners include Shands at the University of Florida, Shands Jacksonville, Malcom Randall VA Medical Center 鈥� part of the North Florida/South Georgia VA 网红黑料 System 鈥� Wolfson鈥檚 Children鈥檚 Hospital in Jacksonville and Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville. The college and its practice partners will participate in a national evaluation project to determine if newly-designed practice units incorporating the CNL role will result in desired improvements in patient care.
鈥淣ursing leaders are seeking innovative and realistic ways to stabilize our workforce and to advance the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for nurses to remain competent and confident practitioners,鈥� said Ginger Campbell, chief nursing officer at Shands Jacksonville. 鈥淏y focusing on the CNL unit-based and patient-centered model of care delivery, we can expand the scope of nursing practice using credentialed nurses who demonstrate an astute ability to assess and treat patients and evaluate outcomes that are directly affected by nursing practices.鈥�
The UF College of Nursing will admit the first class of CNL students this summer on both of its Gainesville and Jacksonville campuses. Potential students are expected to be recent BSN graduates and experienced BSN nurses.
The CNL program is a 15-month full-time graduate program. It will culminate in an intensive residency on model units at each of the college鈥檚 practice partner sites. These units will provide a new form of client patient care, one in which the CNL role is pivotal. Students will have both faculty members and clinical mentors to guide them through the residency.
Graduates will be eligible to sit for the CNL national certification examination. Future plans for the CNL include a new legal scope of practice and professional license. The American Association of Colleges of Nursing will assume leadership and engage appropriate stakeholders in these activities.
鈥淭hose who lead nursing today will determine its future,鈥� said Dean Long. 鈥淭he weight of that responsibility guides our college not only to protect the history and heritage of the profession, but to reach out and envision, shape, and support the next century of nursing on behalf of our patients.鈥�
Those interested in the master鈥檚 CNL track should visit the College of Nursing Web site, www.nursing.ufl.edu or call (352) 273-6366 in Gainesville or (904) 244-5166 in Jacksonville.