Posted: November 29th, 2014

The Clinical Nurse Specialist Role in Evidence Based Practice

The Clinical Nurse Specialist Role in Evidence Based Practice

Order Description

As a CNS we have learned that evidence based practice is an important approach to providing the best quality of care to patients and families. The American Nurses Credentialing Center has identified the incorporation of evidence-based practice throughout an organization as a key characteristic of Magnet-recognized hospitals.

The Becker, et al. article provides one model, the utilization of a clinical practice council, for developing policies and procedures incorporating evidence, a structured process for addressing this issue. Profetto-McGrath, et al. describe their research findings and the data demonstrate that although CNSs report that they use evidence, they also report using personal experience and what has worked for them as sources of evidence.

Reflecting on your own practice or the practice of the unit where you work (or worked) provide an example of an evidence-based practice initiative or a change in practice that has happened. As a clinical nurse were you provided the evidence? Did you know where to find the evidence? Did you know who reviewed the evidence? If a new to practice nurse asked, why do you “do it this way”, could you or your colleagues answer with evidence? In your new role, as the Clinical Nurse Specialist, how do you envision bridging this gap?

Clinical Nurse Specialist® Copyright © 2012 Wolters Kluwer Health I Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
Feature Article
Clinical Nurse Specialists Shaping Policies and Procedures Via an Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Council
Elaine Becker, PhD, RN — Vivien Dee, DNSc, RN — Anna Gawlinski, DNSc, RN, FAAN Theresa Kirkpatrick, MSN, RN ¦ Mary Lawanson-Nichols, MSN, RN Betty Lee, MN, RN Christina Marino, MSN, RN ¦ Norma McNair, RN Mary A. Melwak, PhD, RN Isabel! Purdy, PhD, RN Shohreh S. Samimi, MSN, RN Grace Sund, MSN, RN Jennifer Zanotti, MSN, RN
In the practice of nursing, organizations with progressive evidence-based practice programs implement structures and processes whereby nurses are engaged in the review of existing research and in the development of clinical practice documents to better align nursing practices with the best available scientific knowledge. At our academic hospital system, clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) took the lead to help transform a traditional nursing policy and procedure committee into a hospital-wide, staff-represented Clinical Practice Council (CPC) that ensures evidence-based nursing practices are reflected in the organization’s nursing practice documents for the provision of patient care. Clinical nurse specialists function as mentors and cochairs who are dedicated to ensuring that nursing practice is supported by the latest evidence and committed to guiding staff nurses to continually move their practice forward. The success of the CPC is due to the leadership and
Author Affiliations: Director of Research and Evidence-Based Practice (Dr Gawlinski), Clinical Educator and Coordinator of Clinical Practice Council (Dr Becker), Clinical Educator and Administrative Nurse II (Ms Kirkpatrick), Principal Trainer (Ms Marino), Clinical Nurse Specialist (Ms McNair), Quality Specialist in Pediatrics (Dr Melwak), and Unit Di-rector (Ms Samimi), Ronald Reagan University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center; Clinical Nurse Specialists, Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center & Orthopaedic Hospital (Mss Lawanson-Nichols, Lee, and Sund); Professor and Director of PhD Nursing Program, Azusa Pacific University School of Nursing (Dr Dee); Adjunct Professor, UCLA School of Nursing (Dr Gawlinski); and Assistant Professor and Director, Neonatal High Risk Infant Follow-up Clinic and Neonatal Clinical Re-search Database Center (Dr Purdy), and Magnet Program Director and Clinical Nurse Specialist (Ms Zanotti), UCLA Health System. The authors report no conflicts of interest. Correspondence: Anna Gawlinski, DNSc, RN, FAAN, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, Rm B790, 575 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (agawlinskiamednet.ucla.edu). DOI: 10.1097/NUR.0b013e3182467292
74 www.cns-journal.com
commitment of the CNSs. This article describes the structure, process, and outcomes of an effective CPC where CNSs successfully engage frontline clinicians in promoting nursing care that is evidence based. Clinical nurse specialist leadership is increasingly made visible as CNSs effectively involve staff nurses in practice reforms to improve patient outcomes. KEY WORDS: clinical nurse specialist, clinical practice council
progressive organizations with commitment to a cul-ture of evidence-based practice (EBP) must im-plement structures and processes whereby nurses engage in the review of existing research to better align nursing practices with the best available scientific knowl-edge.” To enhance staff nurses’ influence over nursing practice, our academic hospital system took the lead to transform our traditional nursing policy and procedure committee into a hospital-wide, staff nurse—represented Clinical Practice Council (CPC). The CPC ensures that EBPs are reflected in the organization’s nursing practice documents for the nurses’ provision of patient care. Clin-ical nurse specialists (CNSs) provide leadership by sew-ing as council cochairs and mentoring staff nurses in the integrated effort to evaluate evidence and revise nursing practice documents. This article describes the structure, process, and out-comes of an effective CPC where CNSs successfully engage frontline clinicians in promoting nursing care that is evi-dence based. Clinical nurse specialist leadership and effec-tiveness are increasingly made visible as CNSs involve staff nurses in practice reforms that provide evidence-based care that is safe and effective to improve patients’ outcomes.
March/April 2012
Copyright © 2012 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.

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