[NPInfo] MSN in Leadership

[Deb Kiley]

I personally, don't get this, but must admit I have not researched it
intensively- I remember in my BSN (at USF) we were taught to be leaders...
We have clinical specialists who I would guess understand most of this
information....
I wish the experts at AACN and the schools of nursing would spend more
energy on strategies to fully utilize nurses who have completed existing
programs and less on finding new ways for us to go back to school.

The AACN (again) has issued a white paper on this: 
Link to the site:
http://www.aacn.nche.edu/publications/whitepapers/clinicalnurseleader.htm

An excerpt from their site:
"Educating the Clinical Nurse Leader

In response to client care needs and to the health care delivery
environment, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) proposes
the Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) role. The design of this role has been done
in collaboration with constituents from a broad array of expertise and
leadership roles within the health care system. Participants at the
Stakeholders' Reaction Panel Meeting (2003) confirmed that this role has
emerged and is being further developed on an ad hoc basis. Individuals to
fill this role are being recruited opportunistically based on available
clinicians with appropriate experience, personal characteristics, and
self-selection. Stakeholders affirmed the need to produce these clinicians
through a formal degree-granting program of education. 

The CNL is a leader in the health care delivery system across all settings
in which health care is delivered, not just the acute care setting. The
implementation of the CNL role, however, will vary across settings. The CNL
role is not one of administration or management. The CNL functions within a
microsystem and assumes accountability for healthcare outcomes for a
specific group of clients within a unit or setting through the assimilation
and application of research-based information to design, implement, and
evaluate client plans of care. The CNL is a provider and a manager of care
at the point of care to individuals and cohorts. The CNL designs,
implements, and evaluates client care by coordinating, delegating and
supervising the care provided by the health care team, including licensed
nurses, technicians, and other health professionals."

A similar track is also being pursued by the schools of nursing- for people
without nursing degrees. An example is at UCLA: 

"The UCLA School of Nursing has created an option within the Master of
Nursing program that is designed to prepare individuals with a baccalaureate
degree in another discipline for a career in nursing. This is a two-year
prelicensure program that includes summer enrollment between the first and
second years. The program provides an M.S.N. degree and eligibility to take
the National Council Licensing Examination (NCLEX) to be certified as a
registered nurse (R.N.) after completion of the program. 

The Master's Entry Clinical Nurse (MECN) program option is designed to
produce nurse generalists with special leadership skills and cultural
competency who assume accountability for healthcare outcomes for a specific
group of clients through the assimilation and application of research-based
information. These nurses function in the acute hospital-based setting as
well as a variety of community settings. MECN nurses apply core concepts of
ethical and social justice, research, primary, secondary, and tertiary
prevention, advanced research and system theory, and healthcare policy to
their role as provider and manager of care at the point of care to
individuals and cohorts. "

Deb Kiley FNP FAANP
DNP Student 
Anchorage

-----Original Message-----
From: npinfo-bounces at nurse.net [mailto:npinfo-bounces at nurse.net] On Behalf
Of Dena
Sent: Sunday, June 15, 2008 11:52 AM
To: 'NP Info'
Subject: [NPInfo] MSN in Leadership

The hospital where I work is offering a MSN course to its nurses in
conjunction with the University of San Francisco (a private Catholic
University) in Nursing Leadership. Several of the nurses I work with are
interested in signing up for the program. When I asked them what this degree
prepared them for, other than as a bedside RN with a MSN degree, they kind
of gave me a glazed look and said "leadership". I have looked at the goals
and objectives of this program (can't find an actual description of the
classes in the curriculum listed anywhere) and was wondering if anyone could
tell me how this degree would be used. Case Manager? To me it looks like its
stuff that the majority of nurses should have already learned and currently
do on an every day basis.

 

Here is the description as taken from the school's website:

 

Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL)

A clinical nurse leader is (CNL) is a masters' prepared nurse generalist who
assumes accountability for the healthcare outcomes of a specific group of
patients within a unit or setting through the assimilation and application
of research-based information to design, implement, and evaluate patient
outcomes at the point of care. The emerging role of the CNL is a national
initiative in response to patient care needs and the current health delivery
environments. The CNL is a provider and a manager of care. S/he designs,
implements, and evaluates care by coordinating , delegating, and supervising
the care provided by the health care team, including licensed nurses,
technicians, and other health professionals.

The CNL program offers two tracks; one for individuals who are registered
nurses and one for those who have a bachelor's degree or higher in a field
other than nursing.

Program Objectives
Upon completion of the program the graduate will be able to:

1.       Design, coordinate and evaluate care to individuals, families,
groups, communities, and populations,; understand the rationale for care and
competently deliver this care to an increasingly complex and diverse
population in multiple environments. 

2.       Provide care at the point of care to individuals across the
lifespan with particular emphasis on health promotion and risk reduction
services. 

3.       Synthesize date, information, and knowledge to evaluate and achieve
optimal client outcomes. 

4.       Ensure that clients, families, and communities are well-informed
and included in care planning and is an informed leader for improving care. 

5.       Advocate for the client by taking action if decisions or activities
are against the wished or interests of the client; give the client the
opportunity to make informed decisions about health care before it is
provided. Serve as an advocate for the profession and the interdisciplinary
health care team. 

6.       Use appropriate teaching principles and strategies as well as
current information, materials, and technologies to teach clients, groups,
and other health care professionals under their supervision. 

7.       Use information systems and technology that put knowledge at the
point of care to improve health care outcomes. 

8.       Participate in systems review to improve quality of client care
delivery and at the individual level to critically evaluate and anticipate
risks to client safety with the aim of preventing medical error. 

9.       Delegate and manage the nursing team resources (human and fiscal)
and serve as a leader and partner in the interdisciplinary health care team.


10.    Assume accountability for the ongoing acquisition of knowledge and
skills to effect change in health care practice and outcomes and in the
profession. 

 

 

 

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