Clinical Nurse Leadership, or CNL for short, is a relatively new specialty and nursing and medicine healthcare program. The American Association of Colleges in Nursing (AACN) explicitly designed it for the Direction of Medical Healthcare and Nursing to expand the development and increase the efficiency of the medical institution and general healthcare of the United States. Moreover, the CNL helps nurses increase their job satisfaction, encouraging them to improve their qualifications and the patient care process.
In short, an extensive educational program demands general and advanced training of qualified nurses and a high level of overall health advancement and leadership in improving the safety and quality of patient care throughout the United States (Garman et al., 2019). On top of that, it is required to complete an instruction program, and it is necessary to become a Master of Nursing to start, having undergone special graduate training. In addition, a specialist applying for a place in CNL program must be sufficiently qualified in such a large scale as pharmacology. Special training in pathophysiology and clinical assessment, which is available to all MScs for CNL, will not be superfluous.
In 2017 a study was published called Your Health Care May Kill You: Medical Errors, where the authors reported that up to approximately 250000 Americans die every year due to human error alone (Anderson & Abrahamson, 2017). This program is designed to address such problems so that by 2007 the AACN published an initial complete report on certification standards and requirements for candidates for CNL position. Moreover, from 2007 to 2013, about 1,200 nurses started working as CNL.
This program is an excellent opportunity to advance your career and fits perfectly into any medical organization. However, it should be noted that CNL is not a program designed to train a manager or administrator. The CNL will be responsible to a greater extent for the processes and results of treating patients in a particular medical institution. Speaking of personal goals, I would like to be responsible for creating special programs aimed at various groups of people as a clinical leader. Risk reduction programs are always relevant, regardless of the hospital’s or clinic’s financial capacity. Thus, I would like to become a qualified mentor in the future for the entire nursing department and help each of our patients receive the best possible care.
Studying the competence related to organizational and system leadership is necessary to do that in a particular order. The AACN also lists this as one of the core competencies required for future CNL graduates. Namely, “assume a leadership role of an interprofessional healthcare team with a focus on the delivery of patient-centered care” (AACN, 2013, p. 10). In addition, given current trends and economic indicators such as Covid-19 pandemic and world economy regression, it is worth considering the competence of clinical prevention and public health to improve healthcare. As stated in the AACN Applicant Expectations White Paper, applicants must demonstrate the ability to engage the community and different levels of health systems in recognizing new models of care and delivery of healthcare services (AACN, 2013, p. 18). Moreover, such activities require a thorough analysis of financial possibilities, which is also one of the essential competencies of the AACN for the CNL since the implementation of any project requires the skills to develop business plans and the entire budget (AACN, 2013, p.13).
References
AACN. (2013). Competencies and Curricular Expectations for Clinical Nurse Leader Education and Practice.
Garman, A. N., Standish, M. P., & Wainio, J. A. (2019). Bridging worldviews. Health Care Management Review, 45(4), E45–E55. Web.
Anderson, J. G., & Abrahamson, K. (2017). Your Health Care May Kill You: Medical Errors. Studies in health technology and informatics, 234, 13–17.